Free Fall, Oil Prices Go Negative

[Albert Chan]

Bloomberg Bussinessweek (Aug 10,2020): London Traders Hit $500 Million Jackpot When Oil Went Negative

Trading at Settlement, or TAS, with buyers and sellers agree to futures contract,
*without* knowing the price, but a settlement price well in the future.

Quote:settlement price is based on a volume-weighted average of trades occurring in the two minutes before 2:30 p.m.

This futures game is more like poker, and not much related to supply/demand.