Oil prices sank on Thursday as traders awaited details from a key meeting by major oil producers on production cuts.
The West Texas Intermediate for May delivery fell 2.33 U.S. dollars to settle at 22.76 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for June delivery dropped 1.36 dollars to close at 31.48 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies led by Russia, a group known as OPEC+, kicked off an extraordinary video conference on Thursday to discuss oil production cuts.
The group's failure to strike a deal on output cuts in Vienna last month had sent oil prices to a nosedive and sparked fears of a possible price war.
"At best, the production cuts that are being considered could somewhat soften the blow of this slump in demand. Thus the oil price faces considerable downside risks following today's video conference," Eugen Weinberg, energy analyst at Commerzbank Research, said in a note.
Experts and various institutions warned that oil demand would plunge this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Editor:Cherie
