Apr 27 2020 29 mins 36
Something weird happened last week. It was something that millions of people who have faced years of painful prices at the gas pump never expected: The cost of a barrel of oil dropped into the negatives. Today, we explore why this happened, and what it reveals about the state of the economy. Guest: Clifford Krauss, an energy correspondent for The Times based in Houston. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Background reading: The bizarre dip in oil prices was based on a quirk in the way barrels are traded, one that appears only when the market is “undergoing extreme stress.” “I’m just living a nightmare,” one leader of a large petroleum association said. This is a look inside how the pandemic is decimating the oil industry.
