Why Pipeline Stocks Are Tumbling Today

Oil prices continued to crater today. WTI, the U.S. oil benchmark, plunged another 11% by 10:00 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, falling below $24 a barrel, which is a 17-year low. Weighing on oil was the continued shutdown of the global economy due to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak and the flood of new supplies coming from OPEC after its market-support agreement collapsed earlier this month.

The continued plunge in crude oil prices is weighing on nearly the entire energy sector, with several stocks plunging by more than 10% on the day. One sub-sector getting hit particularly hard is large pipeline companies, with Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMI), Williams Companies (NYSE: WMB), ONEOK (NYSE: OKE), and Energy Transfer (NYSE: ET) all tumbling more than 10% by mid-morning.