Oil steadies as OPEC, allies work on big cut - Reuters

Oil steadies as OPEC, allies work on big cut - Reuters:

Brent oil prices steadied on Wednesday, paring early gains as markets assessed whether deeper output cuts by major producers would be enough to offset the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

Brent crude LCOc1 was down by 1 cent at $51.85 a barrel at 0915 GMT.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) CLc1 was up by 8 cents at $47.26 a barrel. The contract had gained 98 cents earlier in the session.

Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members will seek to persuade Russia on Wednesday to join them in large additional oil output cuts to prop up prices which have tumbled because of the coronavirus outbreak.