美国原油期货周一跌破0美元，历史上首次下跌，能源行业专家指出冠状病毒锁定需求的不确定性和存储空间的缺乏。
周一美国原油期货价格暴跌，限制了WTI原油价格从今年1月5日的64.72美元跌至4月20日的负37.59美元。营销策略师和商品交易专家鲍勃·艾奇诺告诉记者新闻周刊周一的下跌是史无前例的，仅在芝加哥商品交易所(CME)下跌两周之后紧急变化甚至允许负价格交易。一些原油交易商表示，5月份合约交割的原油目前根本没有需求或储存空间，下周抵达墨西哥湾的订单(几个月前就已下单)也无处可去。尽管需求下降，但储存成本和实际运输价格保持不变，这意味着买家基本上是在向卖家支付不交付石油的费用。
艾奇诺和几个德克萨斯州的原油交易商警告美国司机，明天到期的石油期货合约中反映的负价格并不意味着人们会从他们当地的加油站得到报酬。
“由于全球就地保护订单，目前对地下石油的需求很少，现在管理人员最好说，‘拿着这个，帮我处理掉这个，’”艾奇诺告诉记者新闻周刊。“目前油价已跌破每桶负35美元至40美元，这意味着买家可以赊购1000桶原油，并仅收取35000美元的货款...但是你不能把它存放在你的车库里。”
Iaccino指出，石油桶必须放在政府监管机构批准的环保储罐中，这只是阻碍普通潜在买家囤积廉价石油的众多因素之一。
能源交易专家试图说明允许交易发生在零美元以下的“异常现象”，他们重申，存储成本只是超过了当前的需求。
能源方面的首席石油分析师阿姆里塔·森(Amrita Sen)告诉记者:“虽然从表面上看，0美元的油价意味着生产商停止生产，但从理论上来说，付钱给某人购买原油比关闭油井更经济(因为关闭油井会产生成本)新闻周刊周一。
他警告美国人，戏剧性的石油期货崩盘可能并不反映长期价值，周一的负价格并不意味着司机“将被支付加油费”在几十个州，短期汽油价格已经跌至每加仑1美元以下。去年同一时间，司机们支付了2.83美元。
Iaccino说，他相信随着经济从冠状病毒大流行封锁令中恢复，石油期货将反弹至1986年至2001年间的平均水平9美元至22美元。但他表示，几乎肯定不会有高于近年来每桶33美元以上的回报。
至少13个州的司机，包括阿肯色州、科罗拉多州、爱荷华州、堪萨斯州、肯塔基州、密歇根州、密西西比州、密苏里州、纽约州、俄亥俄州、俄克拉荷马州、弗吉尼亚州和威斯康星州有记录汽油泵价格本周在1美元左右或以下。几个州的汽油价格创下了十多年来的新低。
6月份和未来几个月的油价仍徘徊在每桶20美元的正区间。几位交易员告诉我新闻周刊周一，除非美国完全停止使用石油——这意味着司机们不在乎油价是多少——否则他们预计未来几个月订单价格将恢复到相对正常的水平。
一些原油交易商表示，5月份合约交割的原油目前根本没有需求或储存空间，下周抵达墨西哥湾的订单(几个月前就已下单)也无处可去。
U.S. GAS PRICES HIT RECORD LOWS AS CRUDE OIL FUTURES CRASH BELOW $0 FOR FIRST TIME IN HISTORY
United States crude oil futures crashed below $0 Monday to go negative for the first time in history, with energy industry experts pointing to uncertainty over coronavirus lockdown demand and a lack of storage space.
Monday's U.S. oil futures plunge caps WTI crude's fall from $64.72 on January 5 of this year to negative $37.59 on April 20. Marketing strategist and commodity trading expert Bob Iaccino told NewsweekMonday the fall is unprecedented and comes just two weeks after Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) made emergency changes to even allow trade at negative prices. Several crude oil traders said there is simply no current demand or storage space for May contract deliveries and that orders arriving in the Gulf next week, which were placed months ago, have nowhere to go. The cost of storage and physical transport prices has remained the same despite the drop in demand, meaning buyers are essentially paying sellers not to deliver the oil.
Iaccino and several Texas-based crude oil traders cautioned American drivers that the negative prices reflected in the oil futures contract, which expires tomorrow, does not mean people will literally be paid-out by their local gas pump stations.
"There is an immediate lack of demand for oil coming out of the ground due to the global shelter-in-place orders and right now handlers are better off saying, 'here just take this, get rid of this for me,'" Iaccino told Newsweek. "With prices currently falling below negative $35 to $40 per barrel, this means purchasers could buy 1,000 barrels on credit and receive $35,000 just to take delivery of the crude oil...but you can't just store it in your garage."
Iaccino noted oil barrels must be placed in environmental storage or tanks approved by government regulators as just one of the many factors preventing average potential buyers from stocking up on cheap oil.
Energy trading experts, seeking to illustrate the "anomaly" that has allowed trades to happen below zero dollars, reiterated that storage costs have simply outpaced the current demand.
"While on the surface, a $0 oil price would suggest producers stop production, in theory, it is more economic to pay someone to take the crude rather than shut the well (as there are costs associated with shutting a well) up to the shut in cost," Amrita Sen, Chief oil analyst at Energy Aspects, told NewsweekMonday.
He warned Americans that the dramatic oil futures crash is likely not reflective of the long-term value and that Monday's negative price does not mean drivers "will be paid to fill up their gas tanks." Short-term gas pump prices have already fallen below $1 per gallon in dozens of states. Drivers were paying $2.83 at this same time last year.
Iaccino said he believes oil futures will rebound into the range of $9 to $22 averages seen between 1986 and 2001 as the economy reopens from the coronavirus pandemic lockdown orders. But he said there will almost certainly not be a return above the $33-plus barrel pricing enjoyed in recent years.
Drivers in at least 13 states including Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Virginia and Wisconsin have recorded gas pump prices around or below $1 this week. Several states are seeing gas pump prices hit average lows not seen in more than a decade.
June prices and those for the coming months are still hovering around the positive range of $20 per barrel. Several traders told Newsweek Monday that unless the U.S. completely stops using oil—which would mean drivers don't care what gas prices are—they predict a return to relatively normal prices for orders in the coming months.
Several crude oil traders said there is simply no current demand or storage space for May contract deliveries and that orders arriving in the Gulf next week, which were placed months ago, have nowhere to go.
