Oil drops on demand doubts, fears that output cuts have not yet been finalised
Oil slid 1 per cent on Friday as worries about global oil demand and economic growth slowdown caused by the coronavirus outbreak were heightened by concern over non-OPEC crude producers not yet having agreed to cut output further to support prices.
Brent crude fell 49 cents, or 0.98 per cent, to $49.50 per barrel by 0735 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was down 46 cents, or 1 per cent, at $45.44 per barrel.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on Thursday pushed for crude output by OPEC and associated producers – a group known as OPEC+ – to be cut by an extra 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) in total until the end of 2020. The call came ahead of an OPEC+ meeting scheduled for Friday in Vienna.
