WTI settled 39 cents higher at US$20.48 per barrel. The U.S. benchmark plunged 54% during March and 66% for the first quarter, the biggest such declines since the contract's inception in 1983. May Brent crude futures ended 2 cents lower at $22.74 a barrel ahead of expiration. The international benchmark fell 66% in the first quarter and 55% in March, the biggest quarterly and monthly percentage declines on record.
NEW YORK: Crude oil benchmarks ended a volatile quarter with their biggest losses in history, as both U.S. and Brent futures were hammered throughout March on the global economic freeze due to the coronavirus pandemic and the eruption of a price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia.
Both benchmarks lost roughly two-thirds of their value in the quarter, with March's declines of about 55% accounting for the lion's share of the losses.
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