Oil prices flat; OPEC+ mulls supply cut as virus hits demand - Reuters

Oil prices flat; OPEC+ mulls supply cut as virus hits demand - Reuters:

Oil futures gave up early gains and settled narrowly mixed on Thursday, as OPEC and its partner Russia gave mixed signals about possible further output cuts to mitigate the impact of any weakening in global demand due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Brent crude LCOc1 futures lost 35 cents to settle at $54.93 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures rose 20 cents to settle at $50.95 a barrel. 


Both contracts rose more than $1 a barrel early, then pared gains as traders waited to see whether Russia was on board with possible further output cuts along with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies.

“The Russians are raining on the news,” said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. “The production cut probably is needed to get off the short-term demand destruction.”