| The oil market is signaling that prices could stay lower for longer, delivering a fresh blow to hard-hit energy exploration-and-production companies. Benchmark U.S. oil futures for September delivery are nearing the six-year low hit in March. But contracts for delivery in later years have taken an even bigger hit, with prices for 2016 and 2017 already trading below their March lows. That indicates that investors, traders and oil companies see the global glut of crude oil persisting beyond this year.
Companies making long-term investment decisions rely on the prices of futures contracts one or more years in advance. Producers trade futures and options contracts for coming years to lock in prices for the oil they plan to sell in those years...............................................Full Article: Source
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