Oil prices plunged to their lowest level since at least the 1980s today when the cost for a barrel of crude dropped below $1.
The price per barrel began the year at around $60 per barrel and had been hanging around the $20 price recently.
But as consumer demand for crude dried up, it created a global supply glut as billions of people were forced to stay home to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Some experts say storage tanks across the US could hit their limits, possibly as soon as three weeks.
The effect on the Texas economy is already being felt across the state as a number of shut-downs and bankruptcies have already occurred. "We're going to see tens of thousands of layoffs, not only upstream in the oil patch (West Texas) but also downstream" says SMU Economist Bernard Weinstein. "It effects pipelines, refining, the petrochemical industry, and it effects our exports since we've become a major oil exporter in recent years - that's going to be changing."
Some believe it may take years for the oil industry to recover.
“Basically, bears are out for blood,” analyst Naeem Aslam of Avatrade said in a report, according to the Associated Press. “The steep fall in the price is because of the lack of sufficient demand and lack of storage place given the fact that the production cut has failed to address the supply glut.”