Crude oil prices showed small gains on Monday with the possibility of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC oil producing countries extending its oil production cut in response to low demand amid the coronavirus, Covid-19, outbreak.
The international benchmark Brent crude was trading at $51.20 per barrel at 07.08 GMT on Monday, while American West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was at $45.98 at the same time.
On Friday, Brent closed at $49.67 while WTI saw prices of $44.76 per barrel.
OPEC and its allies are due to meet in Vienna, Austria on March 5-6 to discuss the outlook of the global oil market and to look at further cutting their oil production levels to trim the supply glut to match low oil demand worldwide.
The group, dubbed as OPEC+, was advised on Feb. 8 by its technical committee to cut its output by an additional 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) on top of the existing production curb of 1.7 million bpd.
However, as the coronavirus outbreak that originated in China is spreading around the world and lowering oil demand, it continues to put a downward pressure on oil prices.
The oil rig count in the U.S. decreased this week, according to the latest data released Friday by oilfield services company Baker Hughes.
The number of oil rigs, an indicator of short-term production in the country, fell by one to reach 678 for the week ending Feb. 28, from 679 the previous week.
By Firdevs Yuksel
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr