Crude oil falls below $ 30 as coronavirus spreads; Fed move fails to calm markets

Tuesday, 17 March 2020 00:20 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

LONDON (Reuters) - Brent and U.S. crude fell below $30 on Monday as emergency rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve and its global counterparts failed to tame markets and China’s factory output plunged at the sharpest pace in 30 years amid the spread of coronavirus.

Brent crude LCOc1 was down $4.03, or almost 12%, to $29.82 a barrel by 1339 GMT. The front-month price had risen $1 earlier in the session.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 was at $28.63, down $3.10 or almost 10%.

To combat the economic fallout of the pandemic, the Fed on Sunday slashed its key rate to near zero, triggering an unscheduled rate cut by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand to a record low as markets in Asia opened for trading this week.

The Bank of Japan later stepped in by easing monetary policy further, while Gulf central banks also cut interest rates. However, the measures failed to calm investors, and stock markets weakened again.

Meanwhile China’s industrial output fell by a much larger than expected 13.5% in January-February from the same period a year earlier, the weakest reading since January 1990 when Reuters records began.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that the United States would take advantage of low oil prices and fill the nation’s emergency crude oil reserve, in a move aimed to help energy producers struggling from the price plunge.

IHS Markit said on Monday the world is looking at the “possible buildup of the most extreme global oil supply surplus ever recorded”, and that U.S. crude oil production could fall by 2 to 4 million barrels per day over next 18 months.

Oil prices have also been under intense pressure on the supply side, as top exporter Saudi Arabia ramped up output and slashed prices to increase sales to Asia and Europe.

This month the Organization of the Petroleum Countries and Russia failed to extend production cuts that began in January 2017, aimed at supporting prices and lowering stockpiles.

Saudi Aramco is likely to sustain higher oil output planned for April in May, Chief Executive Amin Nasser said on Monday, signaling the top oil producing company is prepared to live with low oil prices for a while.

An OPEC and non-OPEC technical meeting planned for Wednesday in Vienna has been called off as attempts to mediate between Saudi Arabia and Russia after the collapse of their supply cut pact made no progress, sources said on Monday.

Central Bank cushions impact from COVID-19

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