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Oil prices have risen slightly as there are unconfirmed reports of possible medicinal advances to combat the coronavirus outbreak in China.
Experts anticipate that this ‘relief rally’ will cause an increase in demand across China.
According to Reuters, Brent futures rose by $0.77 to $56.05 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures rose $0.95 to $51.70 a barrel.
OPEC+ will meet for a fourth day today. It will discuss if further oil production reductions are necessary to support prices.
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By GlobalDataIt may cut crude output by a further 500,000 barrels per day (bpd). Other measures may include extending current cuts beyond March this year.
ING Economics said: “Given the pressure we have seen the oil market under recently, it does seem that a relief rally was long overdue.”
Meanwhile, sales of crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) fell to nearly zero this week due to coronavirus.
The death toll from the virus has reached 565, including the one reported in the Philippines, an increase of 73 deaths in China from the day before. The number of cases of infection has increased to 28,049 as of the end of 4 February.
The World Health Organization (WHO), however, has played down the media reports of ‘breakthrough’ drugs being discovered.
WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said: “There are no known effective therapeutics against this 2019-nCoV (virus) and the WHO recommends enrolment into a randomised controlled trial to test efficacy and safety.”
