Oil Markets Hit Breaking Point: What Happened When Prices Turned Negative

In April 2020, oil traders couldn't get rid of their contracts fast enough. Buyers actually charged sellers to take them off their hands—oil hit minus $37 a barrel. The market's entire rulebook and computer systems weren't built for this. Exchanges had to rewrite their playbook on the fly. The lesson: when panic hits, the usual price signals don't work.