Oil Gains, Coronavirus Slows Down – 11 February, 2020

investors hopes for higher global oil demand due to a slowdown in the spread of the coronavirus helped the prices of the commodity climb. Brent crude was up 1.8% or 98 cents to $54.99 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.4% or 81 cents to $50.65 per barrel. The growth rate of the coronavirus has slowed down, with China reporting their lowest daily count of new cases in two weeks. Concerns over oil demand had caused prices for both WTI and Brent to 13 month lows earlier in the week. U.S. inventories rose more than expected, adding 6 million barrels per day last week to 438.9 million barrels. OPEC has recommended further cutting production by an additional 600,000 bpd to level oil the drop in oil prices, though Russia has remained hesitant.