Oil rises on supply worries, while virus-led demand concerns ease

SINGAPORE: Oil prices rose nearly 1 per cent on Thursday, extending big gains from a day earlier, as the market worried about crude supply disruptions and demand concerns were cushioned after a sharp drop in new coronavirus cases at the epicentre of the outbreak.

Tensions in Libya that have led to a blockade of its ports and oilfields have shown no signs a resolution, while US sanctions on a subsidiary of Russian state oil major Rosneft to cut Venezuelan crude from the market have helped rekindle global oil supply worries.