Contagion hit European oil giants such as Shell and BP in the wake of the crash. Both fell around 2pc, while Italian oil major Eni dropped by more than 5pc.

Tweeting on Tuesday afternoon, Mr Trump said that he had "instructed the Secretary of Energy and Secretary of the Treasury to formulate a plan which will make funds available" to US oil producers in order to save thousands of jobs.

The latest collapse sent major oil producing nations scrambling to find a solution, just weeks after they agreed to slash output by a record 10 million barrels a day in a failed effort to save the market from a slump.

The Opec cartel of oil producing nations led by Saudi Arabia is now considering meeting again to discuss even deeper production cuts. Reducing production forces prices up because traders are competing to buy a smaller amount of produce.

But analysts warned that Opec's traditional power to control oil prices has evaporated in the face of such a large fall in demand due to coronavirus.

David Winans, a credit analyst at fund manager PGIM Fixed Income, said: "Ultimately, the path for oil prices is going to follow the path of this virus.

"Until demand shows some sign of life, oil prices will likely remain on life support."

Until then, space to store barrels of oil will be increasingly important.

Vopak, the world's largest oil storage company, said its tanks are effectively full as traders race to find space to stash away their oil until it increases in value again in the future.

Meanwhile the US’s main oil storage hub at Cushing, Oklahoma will be full in 3 weeks’ time at current rates.

US oil futures for June delivery have cratered to near two-decade lows, suggesting that the market thinks demand is unlikely to return quickly.

Liz Dhillon, an equity research analyst at Quilter Cheviot, said: “Ultimately, we could see a repeat of this situation next month. A lot will depend on how quickly companies can cut production.”

Once all storage space has been filled, producers will have no choice but to shut their wells off. This is an expensive procedure that can hamper future flows once the well is turned back on.

Louise Dickson, an oil market analyst at Rystad Energy, said: “The contagion has spilled over to WTI June 2020 deliveries, which could also be well on their way into the red as we move towards physical delivery dates.

“The storage shortages are real and will not be resolved at the current market conditions.”

Oil firms are weathering their worst month on record as demand for crude plunges by 29 million barrels a day in April. Frantic efforts by the world's biggest producers to cut output have failed to stop a slump in prices.

A plunge in orders caused by global lockdowns has pushed oil consumption down to levels not seen since 1995, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

This was made worse by a collapse in relations between Russia and Saudi Arabia last month, which triggered a price war that halved the value of Brent crude at the same time that the coronavirus crisis sparked a unprecedented collapse in demand.

Although the two sides have now reached a new agreement, it has done nothing to spark a recovery.

Ms Dickson said: "More output curbs are needed, generous ones, in order to see supply and demand balancing again.

"That will not of course relieve storages, but as demand bounces when some of the lockdowns are over, some supplies could also be sourced from the full-by-then tanks."