Piling virus concerns drive oil markets into bearish territory, OPEC+ calls urgent meeting

Piling virus concerns drive oil markets into bearish territory, OPEC+ calls urgent meeting

Oil prices fell at nearly $50 a barrel as concerns on the coronavirus drove it into a bearish market. On Tuesday, OPEC called for an urgent meeting with its allies in order to measure the impact of the virus on global demand.  

Technical experts from the OPEC+ coalition will meet in Vienna later in the month to consider the probability of new output cuts.

“The coronavirus is prompting growth downgrades around the world and oil demand is taking a big hit,” said economist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp in Singapore, Howard Lee. “It looks highly likely to me that OPEC+ will extend its production cuts from March to June. It’s a logical response given how depressed prices are now.”