Earlier in the session, the US Q1 GDP was worse than expected and printed negative 4.8%, the biggest drop since March of 2009, and officially marking the start of the US recession. Current-dollar GDP decreased by 3.5%, or 191.2 billion USD, in the first quarter to a level of 21.54 trillion USD, after increasing by 3.5% in the fourth quarter.
Some good news came for oil and the WTI benchmark rallied 20% today. It was trading at around 15.80 USD, while the Brent benchmark was 9% stronger at around 22.60 USD.
There have been tentative signs of a recovery in European physical oil markets. Key pricing contracts in the North Sea and Russia have rallied in recent days, though there are still concerns that the world is on the brink of filling its storage capacity. Major producers were due to start output cuts on May 1, but some, including Saudi Arabia, are now curbing output early.
Moreover, producers in North Dakota have shut about 6,200 oil wells, which account for about 405,000 barrels a day of supply.
It looks like we might have seen the bottom in oil prices and some stabilization could take place over the next weeks.