Oil steady as market awaits OPEC cut against low demand

ANKARA

Crude oil prices were steady at Monday's trading start as the global oil market waits for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to make deeper production cuts to mitigate low demand.

International benchmark Brent crude was trading at $54.52 per barrel at 0630 GMT on Monday for a 0.09% gain after ending Friday at $54.47 a barrel.

American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was at $50.34 a barrel at the same time for a 0.04% increase after closing Friday at $50.32 per barrel.

The coronavirus outbreak continues to lower global oil demand and put a downward pressure on crude prices.

The death toll in China from the outbreak rose to 909 with 40,171 confirmed cases, according to the country’s National Health Commission (NHC) on Sunday.

A technical committee composed of members of OPEC and non-OPEC countries concluded last week that their total production should be lowered by an additional 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) until the end of June.

The group, dubbed as OPEC+, agreed on Dec. 6, 2019 to curb their production by an additional 0.5 million bpd starting from Jan. 1 until the end of first half of 2020. That added to their existing output cut of 1.2 million bpd that went into effect in December 2018.

ANKARA

International benchmark Brent crude was trading at $54.52 per barrel at 0630 GMT on Monday for a 0.09% gain after ending Friday at $54.47 a barrel.

American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was at $50.34 a barrel at the same time for a 0.04% increase after closing Friday at $50.32 per barrel.

The coronavirus outbreak continues to lower global oil demand and put a downward pressure on crude prices.

The death toll in China from the outbreak rose to 909 with 40,171 confirmed cases, according to the country’s National Health Commission (NHC) on Sunday.