Monitoring Suspected Vienna Coronavirus Case Ahead of March Meeting: Barkindo

OPEC is monitoring the coronavirus spread ahead of its scheduled March 5-6 meeting, the cartel’s Secretary-General Mohammed Barkindo said Thursday. While speaking on the sidelines of a carbon capture conference hosted by Saudi Aramco, Barkindo said: "We have to keep monitoring and pray. Risky times." This comes in light of a suspected case of the infection being reported in Vienna near the secretariat.

The OPEC and its allies (OPEC+) are considering extending the oil output cuts to cushion the impact on the virus spread on oil prices, as markets fret about its impact on the oil demand growth outlook. The alliance is considering cutting its quotas by another 600,000 b/d, but Russia is yet to announce its decision on the same.

Oil remains heavy

Oil prices remain under heavy selling pressure near the lowest levels since January 2019 amid growing coronavirus risks and following the latest headlines about the uncertainty over the next month’s OPEC+ meeting. WTI drops 1.27% to trade around the 48 handle while Brent slips 1.14% to US$52.20.