(Bloomberg) -- Oil briefly traded below its lowest settlement price in almost 17 years as the coronavirus pandemic threatens to bring the global economy to a standstill, battering demand just as supply explodes.
Futures in New York fell as much as 2.8% in the Asian morning, touching as low as $26.20 a barrel, which would be the lowest settlement price since May 2003. Prices clawed back some of their initial losses but remain more than 15% weaker this week in the most volatile trading on record.
While policymakers around the world take unprecedented steps to shore up their economies from the fallout of the coronavirus, the meltdown in oil demand and concurrent supply free-for-all by the world’s biggest producers continue to pull crude prices ever lower.
“I don’t think we have hit peak demand devastation yet,” said Stephen Innes, Asia Pacific market strategist at AxiCorp, who predicts oil may fall to $18-$20 a barrel. “If cases exponentially increase, especially in the U.S., its going to spook the hell out of oil traders.”
The market is finding little succor in global efforts to stem the economic fallout. The U.S. Federal Reserve on Tuesday announced the restart of a financial crisis-era program in an effort to stem the economic impact from the virus. While U.S. stocks rebounded from the biggest rout since 1987 on the plan, oil continued its slide as Saudi Arabia signaled its intention to ship a record 10 million barrels a day in April.
The supply and demand shocks have hammered Wall Street’s outlook for oil. Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS). said consumption is down by 8 million barrels a day and cut its Brent forecast for the second quarter to $20 a barrel. Meanwhile, Mizuho Securities warned crude prices could go negative as Russia and Saudi Arabia flood the market with supply.
West Texas Intermediate for April delivery was 2 cents lower at $26.93 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange as of 8:46 a.m. in Singapore. Brent crude added 7 cents to $28.80 after slumping 4.4% on Tuesday.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
