(Corrects day on paragraph 1 to Tuesday)
* Twin storms force deep U.S. production cuts
* China, U.S. to push forward with Phase 1 trade deal
* Fauci warns on rushing out coronavirus vaccine
By Jessica Jaganathan
SINGAPORE, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Crude oil prices were mixed on
Tuesday as traders weighed massive production cuts in the U.S.
Gulf Coast from Tropical Storms Marco and Laura against rising
coronavirus cases in Asia and Europe.
Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 added 5 cents, or 0.1%, to
$45.18 a barrel by 0055 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate
crude CLc1 was down 9 cents, or 0.2%, at $42.53 a barrel.
"A jump last week in the U.S. rig count and mixed data on
COVID-19 infections are having a muted negative effect on oil
this week, thanks in part to the possible disruption from two
separate hurricanes moving into the U.S. Gulf Coast region,"
said Stephen Innes, chief global markets strategist at AxiCorp.
Energy companies moved to cut production at U.S. Gulf Coast
oil refineries on Monday after shutting 82% of the area's
offshore crude oil output as the rare double-storm assault on
key U.S. oil regions threatens to bring days of heavy rains and
strong winds this week.
Producers have shut more than 1.5 million barrels per day of
Gulf Coast offshore oil production, nearly 14% of the nation's
total output. A top U.S. infectious diseases expert warned on Monday that
rushing out vaccines could undermine trials of other promising
candidates, following a boost to markets after U.S. regulators
authorised the use of blood plasma from recovered COVID-19
patients as a treatment option.
Europe is also seeing a rise in coronavirus cases while the
first documented case of human re-infection with COVID-19 was
reported with a man in Hong Kong catching the virus again some
four months after first being infected.
Elsewhere, China said on Tuesday it agreed with the United
States to continue pushing forward the implementation of the
bilateral Phase 1 trade deal reached earlier this year during a
call between the two countries' top trade negotiators.