Oil futures little changed despite record output cut by OPEC+ - Reuters

Oil futures little changed despite record output cut by OPEC+ - Reuters:

Oil futures were little changed on Sunday even after major oil producers reached a deal for a record 10 million bpd output cut, with analysts saying the agreement is insufficient to head off oversupply as the coronavirus hammers demand.

Total global oil supply cuts could come to 20 million barrels per day, around 20% of global supply, Kuwait’s oil minister said. After four days of wrangling, OPEC, Russia and other oil-producing nations, a group known as OPEC+, agreed on Sunday to cut output by a record amount of 9.7 million barrels per day, representing around 10% of global supply to support oil prices amid the pandemic, sources said.

“If G20 adds about another 10 mln bpd, then the world is meeting the total imbalance from May and this would be a massive relief,” Rystad Energy said. “Still storage will be filled to nearly the top in April, but the market will stabilize.”

In early trade Brent crude LCOc1 futures rose 6 cents to $31.54 a barrel by 2211 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures fell 22 cents to $22.54 a barrel.

Morgan Stanley on Sunday raised its second-quarter oil price forecasts to $25 a barrel for Brent and $22.50 a barrel for WTI. However, the bank said the 9.7 mln bpd cut would not prevent sharp inventory build-ups in the coming months, keeping prices under pressure.