Energy & Science
Oil Demand Catastrophe Is Making the Price War a Sideshow
- Oil traders see 2020 global demand contracting as much as 20%
- Coronavirus demand impacts far outstrip potential output cuts
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Imagine U.S. President Donald Trump makes a deal with Saudi Arabia and Russia to cut oil production. Envisage Washington, Moscow and Riyadh going big, each cutting by one million barrels a day. Bullish, right?
Now come back to the reality of today’s oil market, where demand is collapsing -- some traders say by 10 to 20 million barrels a day, or a fifth of global consumption -- as millions find themselves in lock-down or self-isolating, causing travel to grind to a halt.