Oil is on track for its worst week since the financial crisis amid coronavirus panic, global price war

• Oil is on track for its worst weekly performance since the financial crisis of 2008 amid a global price war between OPEC and its allies and market panic due to coronavirus.
• Brent crude gained as much as 7.3% to $35.65 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 7.2% to $33.76 per barrel early Friday in New York. Still, both are down more than 20% for the week.
• Supply could reach a record high in April, according to Goldman Sachs. Oil is now in super-contango, meaning that future prices are higher than current ones.
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Oil is barreling towards its worst week since 2008 amid a global price war that erupted as the coronavirus outbreak imperils demand.

As OPEC and its allies continue to escalate a price war and threaten to boost outputs, futures in New York have slumped as much as 18% this week. By April, crude oil supply could reach a record high, according to Goldman Sachs.

Oil prices regained some of their steep losses on Friday, but remain in the red for the week. International benchmark Brent crude gained as much as 7.3% to $35.65 per barrel early Friday in New York, but is still down 21% for the week. West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 7.2% to $33.76 per barrel at the same time, but is also down more than 20% on the week.

Read more: Famed economist David Rosenberg called the housing bubble. Now he tells us why the oil-price war will be more damaging than the coronavirus - and outlines a scenario where stocks plunge another 13%.

Coronavirus has weighed on demand as people cut back on travel at the same time that a price war has boosted supply. On Wednesday, President Trump announced a 30-day ban on foreigners arriving in the US from Europe, further putting pressure on oil demand and sending gasoline prices down.

Over the weekend, a price war erupted between Saudi Arabia and Russia as they failed to reach an agreement on how to cut supply to deal with the coronavirus outbreak. That led to a global oil price war as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates pledged to boost production going forward, while Russia said that it could also significantly increase its oil output.

With supply rising, oil is now in super-contango, meaning that forward prices are higher than the current spot price. This happens when a supply glut threatens to overload storage capacity, driving up costs for producers and incentivizing them to sell excess supply at a discount now.