As prices crash, Trump says “’This is a great time to buy oil,’

After a tumultuous day that witnessed oil futures unprecedentedly plunging into negative territory, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested the country could purchase roughly 75 million barrels of oil to add to its Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).

He also suggested that the U.S. could rent that spare capacity to oil firms squeezed for storage space due to the glut in the market due to the coronavirus pandemic, as another option.

“This is a great time to buy oil. We’d get it for the right price,” Trump said at a news briefing on Monday night.

“Nobody’s ever heard of negative oil before.”

Lawmakers in the U.S. have discussed providing support to the struggling energy sector, but a plan for the Department of Energy to spend $3 billion buying oil for the SPR was halted when the money was not included in the $2 trillion stimulus package passed earlier this month.