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2020-03-27 14:00:00

OIL PRICE: NEAR $26 AGAIN

OIL PRICE: NEAR $26 AGAIN

REUTERS - MARCH 27, 2020 - Oil prices were mixed on Friday as the market weighed the potential benefits of stimulus efforts by policymakers around the world against demand destruction caused by fallout from the rapid spread of the coronavirus.

Brent crude was on track for its fifth consecutive weekly drop. By 0922 GMT, it was down 40 cents, or 1.5%, at $25.94 a barrel.

U.S. crude was up 11 cents, or 0.5%, at $22.71.

Both of the benchmarks are down nearly two-thirds this year and the slump in economic activity and fuel demand because of the coronavirus crisis has forced massive retrenchment in investment by oil and other energy companies.

"Unlike the financial markets, the oil market is apparently finding it difficult to look beyond the current crisis," Commerzbank analyst Eugen Weinberg said.

Oil requirements around the world may drop by 20% as 3 billion people are in lockdown, the head of the International Energy Agency Fatih Birol said as he called on major producers like Saudi Arabia to help to stabilize oil markets.

Analyst Weinberg said "We have our doubts about whether Saudi Arabia will allow itself to be persuaded so easily to return from the path of revenge that it only recently embarked upon."

Leaders of the Group of 20 major economies pledged on Thursday to inject more than $5 trillion into the global economy to limit job and income losses from the coronavirus and "do whatever it takes to overcome the pandemic."

Leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives are determined to pass a $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief bill on Friday, or at the very latest on Saturday, hoping to provide the quickest help possible as deaths mount and the economy reels.

With 84,946 infections and 1,259 deaths, the United States faces the prospect of becoming the next global epicenter of the pandemic.

Mainland China reported its first locally transmitted coronavirus case in three days and 54 new imported cases, as Beijing ordered airlines to sharply cut international flights, for fear travelers could reignite the coronavirus outbreak.

As global oil demand plummets, Saudi Arabia is struggling to find customers for its extra oil, undermining its bid to seize market share from rivals by expanding production.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its de facto leader Saudi Arabia failed earlier this month to reach an agreement with other producers, including Russia (known as OPEC+), to curb oil production to support prices.

But the head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund Kirill Dmitriev told Reuters a new OPEC+ deal to balance oil markets might be possible if other countries join in.

"It does not seem as though there is anything the Saudis or the broader OPEC+ group can do to push the market significantly higher," said ING analyst Warren Patterson.

"The demand destruction we are seeing does mean the level of cuts that would be needed by the group would be just too much to stomach," he said.

Algerian oil minister called for an extraordinary meeting of OPEC's economic panel via teleconference to assess current oil market conditions and immediate prospects.

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Earlier:

OIL PRICE: NEAR $26 AGAIN
2020, March, 26, 11:45:00
OIL PRICE: NEAR $27 YET
Brent fell 64 cents, or 2.3%, to $26.75 a barrel, WTI fell 78 cents, or 3.2%, to $23.71 a barrel
OIL PRICE: NEAR $26 AGAIN
2020, March, 26, 11:40:00
#OilPriceWar: U.S. NEED HELP
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.
OIL PRICE: NEAR $26 AGAIN
2020, March, 26, 11:35:00
#OilPriceWar: CHINA WINS
China is saving about $250mn a day after crude prices crashed this year amid dual demand and supply shocks.
OIL PRICE: NEAR $26 AGAIN
2020, March, 25, 13:45:00
OIL PRICE: NEAR $27
Brent was trading up 65 cents, or 2.4%, at $27.80 a barrel, WTI rose to a high of $25.24 a barrel
OIL PRICE: NEAR $26 AGAIN
2020, March, 24, 14:30:00
OIL PRICE: NEAR $28
Brent was up by $1.38 a barrel, or 5.1%, to $28.41, WTI gained $1.54, or 6.6%, to $24.90.
OIL PRICE: NEAR $26 AGAIN
2020, March, 24, 14:20:00
U.S., SAUDI ARABIA #SANCTIONS
nine Republican senators asked the Department of Commerce to launch an anti-dumping case against Saudi Arabia following its price war with Russia.
OIL PRICE: NEAR $26 AGAIN
2020, March, 23, 13:45:00
#OilPriceWar VICTIM
US oil producers are likely to be a victim of the oil-price war,
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Tags: OIL, PRICE, BRENT, WTI