Among other things, the coronavirus lockdowns have resulted in the demand for crude oil to plummet to record lows. Airlines are closed, factories have stopped production and transport is halted. At the same time, Russia and Saudi Arabia’s global output has only been cut by 10% which means excess supply and a lack of space to store barrels, reports CNN.
According to BBC, the price of a barrel (May futures) for the benchmark for US oil West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crashed to -$40.32 and closed at -$37.63. This is the first time in history that they have turned negative, reports The Telegraph.
Something bizarre happened in the oil markets on Monday: Prices fell so much that some traders paid buyers to take oil off their hands https://t.co/Ujk54ZGaEP
— The New York Times (@nytimes) April 21, 2020
This downturn has raised concerns that many oil companies might go bankrupt. The only way to survive the crash is if demand rises. However, Twitter users are looking at the humour in the situation as they always do.
Memes have surfaced about oil prices falling below $0 along with jokes on how much of it we can buy with loose change and monopoly money. Check them out.
https://twitter.com/meme__lame/status/1252302653939347457
#crudeoil
Then Now pic.twitter.com/mLtwaTTqS4— Yash Gorani (@whoyashgorani) April 20, 2020
When you realise that the barrel costs more than the oil.#OilPrice pic.twitter.com/O9VfBQbGZb
— Sanyam Baid (@Sanyam_jain7) April 20, 2020
Just ordered 10$ worth of oil and it's coming #OilPrice pic.twitter.com/bFkWxhuo8h
— Chirayu Kapoor (@IamChiuKapoor) April 20, 2020
https://twitter.com/jiteshrochlani/status/1252326664039694336
Crude oil right now#crudeoil pic.twitter.com/UbDNqFMIza
— Tweeting Quarantino ➐ (@rohitadhikari92) April 20, 2020
#OilCrash #OilPrices #OilMarketCrash
Can we exchange? I'm giving u more costly gift. 😂
Plz wipes your tears… pic.twitter.com/raSFl5mOAX— Darshan Rana (@yours_darsh) April 21, 2020
I want to buy three barrels of Oil
#OilPrice pic.twitter.com/iEKtrKLc2a— Your Favorite Igbo Boy 🇳🇬🇬🇧 (@vuchi_) April 20, 2020
I’ll buy a full tanker load of your finest crude oil, keep the change.#oilprice #OilPrices pic.twitter.com/TnTmcYOh2X
— Amresh Mandal (@resh_ami) April 20, 2020
"Cruide oil prices gets low"
Me at petrol pump : pic.twitter.com/o7K4qijRyf
— Aman (@Humourlessly) April 20, 2020
Crude oil price right now : pic.twitter.com/eLwOmPHyH6
— ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ (@theesmaarkhan) April 20, 2020
Me to petrol pump assistant after filling up my Platina's Tank#OilMarketCrash #CrudeMeltdown pic.twitter.com/AzEyrYO3TV
— Aaditya (@aadicastic) April 21, 2020
#OilPrices Simpsons predicted it #OilMarketCrash pic.twitter.com/DiEwyEDDqg
— Amit Arora (@AmitAro73309271) April 20, 2020
While it is fun to think about how much oil we can buy now, we still very much have to stay indoors.