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Somewhat tangential question: why can't oil producers "buy" these negative contracts and pump the oil back into their wells?

• paxys 7y ago
  > pump the oil back into their wells That's...not how oil wells work.
  • yaitsyaboi 7y ago
    Or just not extract them?
    • ajflores1604 7y ago
      Its V expensive to start and stop production. And there's some tragedy of the commons at play here too. Lots of Texas oil producers are heavily leveraged with debt. With lower prices they have to pump more to meet any obligations they have.
    • SlowRobotAhead 7y ago
      I think the idea that is that it also costs money to shut a well down. Like if you just turn it off, there will be more work to do later when you want to get it back up again. Not just staff, but well / drill / pump / seal / geological issues.