Oil prices slide as coronavirus spread beyond China raises demand worries

TOKYO, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Friday with
fears for fuel demand growing as the coronavirus epidemic that
originated in China spread further beyond the country, while
major crude producers stood pat on taking early action to cut
output to support the market.
Brent crude LCOc1 was down 24 cents, or 0.4%, at $59.07 a
barrel by 0155 GMT, while U.S. crude CLc1 was off by 25 cents,
or 0.5%, at $53.63 a barrel.
On Friday South Korean authorities confirmed 52 new
coronavirus infections, Yonhap reported. The streets of the
country's fourth-largest city were deserted on Thursday after
dozens of people there went down with the pathogen in what
authorities described as a "super-spreading" event. In China itself, the world's biggest importer of crude oil,
new cases also rose on Friday from the day before even as
Beijing presses on with efforts to contain the spread that has
largely paralysed the world's second-biggest economy.
"One risk is whether infections rise when people return to
work on the mainland, as they are beginning to do though far
from on a mass scale," said Christopher Wood, strategist at
Jefferies.
"The other risk is that the resumption of economic activity
in the mainland takes longer than was, say, the case with SARS
in 2003, because Beijing chooses to prioritise fighting the
disease over GDP growth targets," he added.
Adding to pressure on oil prices was the strength of the
U.S. dollar as investors looked for safe havens. A stronger
greenback typically makes oil more expensive as the commodity is
usually priced in dollars. MKTS/GLOB
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Thursday
that global oil producers understood that it would now no longer
make sense for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) and its allies to meet before their previously
planned gathering in early March.
The grouping, known as OPEC+, has been withholding supply
from the market to support prices for several years now and many
analysts expect an extension or deepening of the restrictions on
production.
Meanwhile prices were little changed by tensions in the
Middle East after Saudi Arabia said on early Friday it had
intercepted and destroyed several ballistic missiles launched by
Houthi militia towards Saudi cities.