Oil prices declined on Thursday as traders grew concerned over weaker demand amid the rapid spread of the coronavirus.
The West Texas Intermediate for May delivery was down 1.89 U.S. dollars to settle at 22.60 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for May delivery fell 1.05 dollars to close at 26.34 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
"Demand estimates are in free fall at present, which is initially likely to attract the greatest attention. The oil price is therefore likely to remain under pressure for the time being," Eugen Weinberg, energy analyst at Commerzbank Research, said in a note on Thursday.
Experts warned of gloomy demand outlook for crude due to the COVID-19 crisis.
"We see that economic activity could be reduced by as much as 30 percent in Q2 in some countries, with oil demand down by 16 percent or 15 million barrels per day in the next couple of months," said Chris Midgley, analyst at energy and commodities information provider S&P Global Platts Analytics.
"The biggest downside driver for oil prices is clearly the fallout from the containment measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus," said Johannes Benigni, founder and chairman of JBC Energy.
The number of COVID-19 cases worldwide topped 500,000 as of 2 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time on Thursday (1800 GMT), according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Earlier this month, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, led by Russia, failed to strike a deal on oil production cuts.
Editor:Cherie
