Trump to consider halting Saudi oil imports to help ease U.S. glut

A wellhead on a fracking site leased by Oasis Petroleum in the Permian Basin oil production area near Wink, Texas. / Reuters

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said on Monday that his administration was considering the possibility of stopping incoming Saudi Arabian crude oil shipments as a measure to support the battered domestic drilling industry.

"Well, I'll look at it," Trump told reporters at a daily news conference after he was asked about requests by some Republican lawmakers to block the shipments under his executive authority.

Trump said he had heard the proposal immediately before the news briefing. "We certainly have plenty of oil, so I’ll take a look at it," he said.

U.S. crude oil futures collapsed to trade in negative territory for the first time in history on Monday, amid a coronavirus-induced supply glut. Futures ended the day at a stunning minus-$37.63 a barrel as desperate traders paid to get rid of oil as storage space was close to running out.

The collapse in prices has threatened to tilt the once-booming U.S. oil industry into bankruptcy.