As coronavirus rages, oil collapses and OPEC hits panic button
The coronavirus has OPEC members running scared
Can OPEC save the global oil market?
It's members and it's co conspirer Russia has reportedly called for an “emergency meeting“ trying to get ahead of the coronavirus that has created a drastic drop in global oil demand. Not only has demand fallen because of parked planes and trains but over concerns that the coronavirus may cause a fear-related decline in economic growth.
OPEC along with its coconspirator Russia and a few other non-OPEC nations agreed in December to oil production by 1.7 million barrels per day (bpd) until the end of March but now it looks like they will have to cut again to stabilize the oil market.
US DECLARES EMERGENCY OVER CORONAVIRUS, ANNOUNCES NEW TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| USO | UNITED STATES OIL FUND L.P. | 78.78 | -0.13 | -0.16% |
It was Saudi Arabia that called for an early OPEC Plus meeting that was initially scheduled to take place on March 5th and 6th. Russia initially was playing hard to get and telling OPEC that there was no need for an emergency meeting at this time.
FOR OIL CORONAVIRUS IS GROUND ZERO
Yet on Friday, that changed after oil prices continued to plunge. Russian oil minister Alexander Novak reportedly said that they were finally ready to move the March meeting to February but would need several more days to assess the impact and decide on the actual date of the meeting.
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"We have discussed it with the Saudi (energy) minister several times already ... Yesterday, we spoke for an hour, today, for half an hour. We are discussing it very seriously," Interfax quoted Novak as saying.
Demand destruction is estimated at around 200,000 barrels a day. To get ahead of it and to make a statement, they should announce a cut of 500,000. That should more than offset demand losses and it will allow stability to come back into the marketplace.
If they stabilize the price of oil, it may go a long way to bringing confidence back to the market as the fear surrounding the coronavirus will be worse than the reality.
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Phil Flynn is senior energy analyst at The PRICE Futures Group and a Fox Business Network contributor. He is one of the world's leading market analysts, providing individual investors, professional traders, and institutions with up-to-the-minute investment and risk management insight into global petroleum, gasoline, and energy markets. His precise and timely forecasts have come to be in great demand by industry and media worldwide and his impressive career goes back almost three decades, gaining attention with his market calls and energetic personality as writer of The Energy Report. You can contact Phil by phone at (888) 264-5665 or by email at pflynn@pricegroup.com.