U.S. oil futures plunged below zero for the first time, showing that there is no capacity to store all the crude oil that the world does not need right now.

I saw a lot of misinformation on the Internet (especially on Crypto Twitter) when the WTI Oil futures contract collapsed and traded in the negative zone to almost -38$ per barrel. Negative prices mean that you can get paid to buy oil. But who can get paid to buy oil? You will learn by continuing to read below.

What happened yesterday? WTI Futures prices went into negative territory for May delivery, which expire on 21st of April and this is important to remember. Other contracts (June 2020, July 2020, etc. were trading in normal ranges on the day). The collapse for the May contract happened because speculators flooded the oil market through financial derivatives without having the means to physically store the oil. The second reason is that there is a lack of storage capacity within refineries, storage facilities and tankers which are already at capacity. Covid-19 is preventing normal economic activity so the demand for oil has plummeted in recent weeks. We are in a situation where we have a lot of supply and much lower than usual demand. …