NEW YORK : Oil prices tumbled on Monday, with the U.S. crude futures contract plunging more than 50% to the lowest price on record, as investors worried about lack of storage and German and Japanese data indicated a bleak global economy.
Brent was down $1.50, or 5.3%, to $26.58 a barrel by 12:16 p.m. EDT (1616 GMT), while the front-month May WTI contract fell $9.43, or 51.6%, to $8.84 a barrel.
Prices have been pressured for weeks with the coronavirus outbreak hammering demand even as Saudi Arabia and Russia failed to reach an agreement to cut supply.
The two sides, with U.S. urging, agreed more than a week ago to cut supply by 9.7 million bpd, but that will not quickly reduce the global glut.