Oil edged lower for the week after paring losses following the dramatic collapse on Monday that saw prices in New York plunge below zero for the first time in history. West Texas Intermediate for June delivery rose 2.7% Friday, closing the curtain on a tumultuous week of wild price swings. U.S. operators have started to shut old wells and halt new drilling, actions that could reduce output by 20%. Russia’s seaborne exports from the Baltic will fall to a 10-year low in May, while Kuwait and Algeria said they are reducing production earlier than required under the OPEC+ deal.

“The production cuts are helping sentiment,” Andrew Lebow, senior partner at Commodity Research Group said. “We have a long way to go to balance the market. Traders are still very concerned about the storage situation.”

WTI futures rebound from historic drop below zero

Oil exploration across the U.S. fell the most in 14 years with drillers idling 60 rigs, according to data from Baker Hughes Co. on Friday. This marks the sixth straight week of decreased activity levels, halting almost half of American exploration. “Rig counts are a drop in the bucket,” said Tariq Zahir, commodity fund manager at New York-based Tyche Capital Advisors LLC. “Demand has to come back and until you see that it’s going to be a very hard argument to say why crude oil should massively go higher.”

Still, a massive glut remains and it won’t clear quickly, consultant FGE said, deepening its forecast for demand loss yet again. In a sign of how severe the supply imbalance is, traders are using barges – usually busy moving fuels around Europe’s petroleum-trading hubs – as cargo storage instead. Meanwhile, an American pipeline operator is looking at ways to free up space on its conduits to stock more crude.

PRICES:
  • WTI for June delivery rose to 44 cents to settle at $16.94 a barrel in New York. The contract fell 7.3% for the week.
  • Brent added 11 cents to settle at $21.44 a barrel.

With no clear indication of when demand might recover, the market is set for a prolonged slump that will reshape the industry for years to come. Oil’s collapse will be followed by the weakest recovery in history, according to the World Bank.

“There are only two things that can save the market from its current anguish: a recovery in demand or additional supply cuts,” said Stephen Brennock, an analyst at PVM Oil Associates. “Tumultuous, erratic, and unprecedented — the curtain is about to fall on a historic week for the oil market.”

OTHER OIL-MARKET NEWS
  • A plan being weighed by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to steer financial aid to beleaguered oil drillers could set up a clash with Democrats who have warned against any bailout for the industry.
  • The oil market is getting so glutted that tiny barges that would normally be busily moving fuels around Europe’s petroleum-trading hub are suddenly storing traders’ cargoes instead.
  • Halliburton Co. is shutting down primary operations in Venezuela as the U.S. tightens sanctions against the Nicolas Maduro regime.
  • Oil terminal owners are seeking to delay out-of-service inspections required under federal law as storage fills up across the U.S.