I oversimplified, people were being paid to hold/store the oil by the people that had the oil. The people that had the oil were able to profit more by holding the oil short term (and incurring an expense in storing it) and selling it once the market came back. So, no people were not paying others to take their oil, that would be silly, but they were paying others to store it.
All good, Im just making sure the details were correct. Futures went negative, midstream held out for that extreme short term and bit the bullet by paying facilities to store it longer, although upstream or mid would never give it away for free, let alone pay a civilian to just come and take it.
I oversimplified, people were being paid to hold/store the oil by the people that had the oil. The people that had the oil were able to profit more by holding the oil short term (and incurring an expense in storing it) and selling it once the market came back. So, no people were not paying others to take their oil, that would be silly, but they were paying others to store it.
All good, Im just making sure the details were correct. Futures went negative, midstream held out for that extreme short term and bit the bullet by paying facilities to store it longer, although upstream or mid would never give it away for free, let alone pay a civilian to just come and take it.