U.S. crude costs plunged in afternoon Asian commerce on Monday as merchants continued to worry over a droop in demand because of the coronavirus pandemic — and one analyst described the situation stateside as “quite dire.”

Costs on the Might contract for West Texas Intermediate crude futures tanked by nearly 19% to $14.84 per barrel. Earlier on, WTI had fallen to $14.47 per barrel, its lowest degree since mid-March 1999 when it traded for as low as $14.40 per barrel. In the meantime, worldwide benchmark Brent crude futures edged 2.42% decrease to $27.40 per barrel.

ANZ’s Daniel Hynes instructed CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Monday that one of many causes behind the “crater” in U.S. crude costs was the approaching expiration of the Might futures contract, set to occur on Tuesday, in accordance with Refinitiv. The June WTI contract fell about 6% to $23.57 per barrel.