April 28, 2020

Crude Is Down, But Hardly in Chaos

The press is yet again filled with stories about how the oil market is in chaos. “20 minutes that broke the oil market” blares Bloomberg about the March 20 WTI meltdown, even though it was really 20 minutes that broke one particular futures market for one particular grade of oil for delivery in one particular place. In any case, here is Bloomberg’s own chart of oil prices as of this morning:

Honestly, I don’t see anything that anyone should consider unexpected. Oil prices were primed to go down by squabbling between Russia and Saudi Arabia, and then, starting in March, reduced demand from COVID-19 sent them on a steady downward course. Since mid-March WTI has been dropping at a steady pace aside from a single day, while Brent’s downturn has been noisier but more moderate.

Obviously these are not good days for anyone who’s long oil, but there’s a big glut and reduced demand thanks to the coronavirus lockdowns. It’s hardly a big shock that oil prices are continuing to drop. Wake me up when crude goes down to a buck a barrel.

WE'LL BE BLUNT:

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

WE'LL BE BLUNT

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate