Brent was worth $ 54.90 around 11:20 in London, down 0.05% from Thursday. In New York, the WTI lost 0.14% to 50.88 dollars.
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Oil prices stabilized on Friday during European trade while Russia announced that it would take a position on a possible further reduction in oil production “in the coming days”.
Around 10:20 GMT (11:20 CET), a barrel of Brent North Sea crude for April delivery was worth $ 54.90 in London, down 0.05% from Thursday’s close.
In New York, the American barrel of WTI for March lost 0.14% to 50.88 dollars.
According to several media, Russia, an ally of the countries of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries within OPEC +, opposed Thursday the recommendation of the technical committee of this group, in an extraordinary meeting in Vienna, in favor of ” a drop in production of an additional 600,000 barrels per day to stem the fall in prices caused by the coronavirus epidemic.
“Moscow is in the habit of signaling its opposition to any change in production strategy for OPEC +,” said Stephen Brennock, analyst for PVM.
But, according to him, “this initial reluctance has always diminished in the past and (Russia) ends up aligning itself with its allies” and “it is expected to be the same on this occasion” .
However, the envisaged drop in production “will probably not be enough to bring prices up because the decrease in Chinese demand is considerably greater,” said Eugen Weinberg, analyst for Commerzbank.
According to figures cited by analysts, Chinese imports may have fallen by 3 or 4 million barrels per day compared to early January.
Two weeks after the de facto quarantine of Hubei, the province where viral pneumonia appeared, the epidemic infected 31,161 people in mainland China, 636 of whom died, according to the latest official figures.
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