Coronavirus: Flotilla Of Oil Tankers Spotted Off Port Of Long Beach
LONG BEACH (CBSLA) — A flotilla of oil tankers sitting off the coast of Long Beach is a stark illustration of the historic dive in oil prices.
Twenty-four oil tankers were spotted Tuesday, anchored off the shore of Southern California, waiting to get into the Port of Long Beach. That's four times the number of tankers that are typically waiting to unload crude from Mexico or Alaska.
Oil companies have so much supply, they have run out of storage facilities for it. In many ports around the world, companies are simply storing it on ships for now.
Oil prices dropped below $20 Tuesday, the lowest price in almost two decades. With much of the nation under stay-at-home orders, working from home and not traveling because of the coronavirus pandemic, demand for oil has dropped to historic lows.