Oil steady as rising coronavirus cases stokes demand concerns

* OPEC cuts 2021 oil demand forecast again as virus cases
rise
* UAE says OPEC+ plans to ease oil cuts from Jan as agreed
* Coming up: API oil inventory data at 2030GMT

By Jessica Jaganathan
SINGAPORE, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Oil prices were steady on
Wednesday on concerns that fuel demand will continue to falter
as rising coronavirus cases across Europe and in the United
States, the world's biggest oil consumer, could impede economic
growth.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
said in its monthly report on Tuesday that oil demand in 2021
will rise by 6.54 million barrels per day (bpd) to 96.84 million
bpd, 80,000 bpd less than its forecast a month ago, as a result
of the economic dislocations caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Brent crude futures LCOc1 for December fell by 8 cents, or
0.2%, to $42.37 a barrel by 0142 GMT while U.S. West Texas
Intermediate CLc1 futures were down 9 cents, or 0.2%, to
$40.11.
The heads of two of the world's biggest oil producers,
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed
bin Salman, discussed the current situation in the energy
markets during a telephone call, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.
OPEC and producer allies such as Russia, a group known as
OPEC+, will stick to their plans to taper oil production cuts
from January, Suhail al-Mazrouei, the energy minister of the
United Arab Emirates said on Tuesday. "Oil prices are steady in Asia as the dollar rally takes a
break and as the Russian and Saudis show a united front in
making OPEC+ oil producers live up to their pledged output cut
promises," said Edward Moya, a senior market analyst at OANDA.
"Crude prices are looking very vulnerable as the coronavirus
continues to spread like wildfire across Europe and trending
higher in the U.S.," Moya added.
On the supply side, crude oil production in the U.S. Gulf of
Mexico continued to recover four days after Hurricane Delta made
landfall with the amount shut falling to 44% on Tuesday from 69%
on Monday. U.S. crude oil inventories were seen falling last week,
while distillate stockpiles likely declined for a fourth week, a
preliminary Reuters poll showed on Tuesday. The poll was conducted ahead of reports from American
Petroleum Institute and the Energy Information Administration.
Both the reports were delayed by a day because of the Columbus
day holiday on Monday in the United States.