Some US shale producers have been pressuring the Trump administration to intervene in the price war, which broke out after Russia earlier this month declined to go along with an OPEC proposal for production cuts to prop up prices.

China is saving about $250mn a day after crude prices crashed this year amid dual demand and supply shocks.

The U.S. Senate on Wednesday unanimously backed a $2 trillion bill aimed at helping unemployed workers and industries hurt by the coronavirus epidemic, as well as providing billions of dollars to buy urgently needed medical equipment.

Aramco plans to supply 12.3 million barrels per day of crude in the next two months, after talks with Russia to deepend OPEC+ output cuts floundered, starting a price war. The company will draw 3 million barrels per day from its stocks, producing 12 million barrels per day.

“First, the outlook for global growth: for 2020 it is negative—a recession at least as bad as during the global financial crisis or worse. But we expect recovery in 2021. To get there, it is paramount to prioritize containment and strengthen health systems—everywhere. The economic impact is and will be severe, but the faster the virus stops, the quicker and stronger the recovery will be.

Brent was trading up 65 cents, or 2.4%, at $27.80 a barrel, WTI rose to a high of $25.24 a barrel

The Senate will vote on the $2-trillion package

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 4.2%, with energy .SXEP, autos .SXAP, insurers .SXIP and financials .SXFP jumping between 5.4% and 6.7%.

European gas stock levels for both January and February 2020 were the highest ever recorded for those months.

Significant volumes of Russian gas currently are transited to Germany via Poland, which are a key revenue generator for the country.

State-owned oil and gas major Gazprom announced on February 20 it is looking to produce hydrogen from natural gas.

CNOOC total net profit rising significantly to RMB61.05 billion, an increase of 15.9% YoY, despite more than 10% drop in international oil prices.

Brent was up by $1.38 a barrel, or 5.1%, to $28.41, WTI gained $1.54, or 6.6%, to $24.90.

In a co-ordinated global effort to stabilize financial markets in one of the biggest routs on record, Germany launched a stimulus package of up to 750 billion euros, while the U.S. Federal Reserve took unprecedented steps to shore up credit across the economy.

nine Republican senators asked the Department of Commerce to launch an anti-dumping case against Saudi Arabia following its price war with Russia.