Analysts say a rebound in oil prices as consumer demand for gasoline rises will buoy energy companies as they give quarterly results starting next week.

Calgary-based energy companies are continuing to reduce production, cut spending and trim costs as volatile oil prices remain stubbornly below profitable levels.

The CEO of one of Canada's largest drilling rig contractors says plunging North American crude prices on Monday and Tuesday are signs that the oil industry is headed for a "deep, deep collapse."

The price of a barrel of oil cost less than zero dollars for the first time ever. USask political scientist Greg Poelzer says it means an economic depression is imminent.

As oil prices dropped to unprecedented negative levels Monday, experts say it's the result of an oversupply problem due to COVID-19 stay-at-home orders.

Western Canadian Select is a crude oil blend created with oilsands bitumen in Hardisty, Alta. and experts say its price is based on a complicated formula.

Crude oil sellers were offering buyers $37 a barrel.

Following dispute between Saudi Arabia and Russia in March, OPEC ramped up production. As a result, commodity prices collapsed.

An oil and gas analyst says record low prices for oilsands crude could lead to up to 20 per cent of Canada's thermal bitumen production being shut down over the next few months.

World oil prices have fallen so low that Canadian producers are being advised not to spend any money on drilling and, in some cases, to stop producing crude oil from existing wells.