Oil plunges over 300% to never-before-seen depths, closing at -$37.63 a barrel

NEW YORK: Oil prices cascaded significantly on Monday, plunging more than 300% to never-before-seen depths to close at -$37.63 a barrel as a supply glut forced traders to pay others to take the commodity.

With space to store oil scarce, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for May delivery ended trading at -$37.63 a barrel ahead of Tuesday's close for futures contracts — when traders who buy and sell the commodity for profit would have had to take physical possession of it.