The global oil demand is in a free fall and is heading for its biggest annual decline in history. This is happening as more countries take stringent measures to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Travel bans, work from home, canceled vacations, impaired supply chains – all mean limited demand for fuel. Societies are already responding to the virus, and demand for oil, which was initially hit by the isolation of much of China, continues to decline. Oil traders, directors, hedge fund managers and consultants drastically lower their forecasts.

Growing fears among many traders are that oil demand may see its biggest drop this year, easily exceeding the loss of nearly 1 million barrels per day during the recession in 2009 and even surpassing the losses of 2.65 million barrels per day in 1980, when the global economy was in the midst of the second oil crisis.

“This global pandemic is something the world has not experienced since 1918”, commented Pierre Andurand, who heads the oil hedge fund Andurand Capital Management LLP. “I see no reason for the decline in demand to be several times greater than during the global financial crisis”, added he.

Since the beginning of this year, oil prices have fallen by almost 50%, with the increasing impact of the coronavirus on the global economy coinciding with the turmoil in OPEC+. Saudi Arabia and Russia are in a price war, and on Monday the price of Brent’s price fell by 20%, the biggest drop since the 1991 Gulf War day.

“We have not seen a similar demand situation in history. For some time every day will be worse than the previous one in terms of demand”, commented the chief economist at the oil trading company Trafigura Group.

Financial company Goldman Sachs predicts that oil demand will shrink by more than 4 million barrels per day by April. Other investors expect much larger downturns in the short term.