MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st April, 2020) Brent oil futures ended their worst quarter in decades, losing over 65 percent of their value amid the coronavirus pandemic and the collapse of OPEC+ deal.
On Tuesday, May futures for Brent oil fell by 0.22 percent to $22.74 per barrel. Since the beginning of the year, the price fell by 65.5 percent.
May futures for WTI crude rose by 1.9 percent to $20.48 per barrel on Tuesday.
Oil prices sharply fell since early March due to the expected demand slump after the breakup of the OPEC+ oil output cut deal and amid the coronavirus outbreak. After OPEC+ states failed to agree, Riyadh officially announced an increase in oil shipments in April to 12.3 million barrels per day, 300,000 barrels per day higher than its production capacity, and reportedly started offering its oil to European customers with huge discounts. Weak demand and expected increase in shipments has sent price of Russian crude blend Urals to $13 per barrel on Monday, lowest in more than two decades.
On Thursday, Norwegian research company Rystad Energy predicted daily global oil demand to fall by 4.9 percent year-on-year to 95 million barrels in 2020.
On Monday, UK-based research agency Oxford Economics forecast Brent crude price to average $33.8 per barrel this year and $45.5 per barrel in 2021.
