Oil subdued after heavy falls on price war

March 12, 2020: Oil prices were subdued in early Asian trade Thursday following sharp falls overnight, after Saudi Arabia and the UAE escalated a price war by vowing to pump millions more barrels of crude.

Both main contracts fluctuated between small gains and losses. West Texas Intermediate was trading at around $33 a barrel while Brent crude was at about $36 a barrel.

Crude markets suffered their biggest one-day drop in a generation on Monday after top exporter Riyadh began a price war following a refusal by Moscow to reduce output to combat the coronavirus impact.

Prices have swung wildly since and fell heavily again Wednesday, mirroring falls on global stock markets, after Saudi Arabia and Gulf partner UAE said they would open the oil taps further.

They said they will together boost production by at least 3.5 million barrels per day (bpd), to 16.3 million bpd, from April.

Investors were also waiting for an address by US President Donald Trump, who is set to explain his plan for tackling the virus outbreak -- which has now been declared a pandemic by global health officials -- and economic assistance.

The collapse of oil prices came after OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia had led a push to reduce output further to shore up prices amid slumping demand.

But the move was blocked by Moscow, the world's second-biggest oil producer, prompting Riyadh to slash prices.

Analysts see no end in sight to the turmoil.

"We suspect that Russia and Saudi Arabia may not be interested in a de-escalation for the time being," said investment firm DWS in a note.

AFP/APP