UPDATE 5-Oil prices slide 7% after producers' meeting is postponed

(updates prices)
By Jessica Resnick-Ault
NEW YORK, April 5 (Reuters) - Global benchmark oil prices
traded as much as $3 a barrel lower as the market opened for
Monday's trading session, reflecting fears of oversupply after
Saudi Arabia and Russia postponed to Thursday a meeting about a
potential pact to cut production.
Late last week, prices had surged, with both U.S. and Brent
contracts posting their largest weekly percentage gains on
record due to hopes that OPEC and its allies would strike a
global deal to cut crude supply worldwide. O/R
The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus has
cut demand and a month-long price war between Saudi Arabia and
Russia has left the market awash in crude. During the month,
prices have plummeted as the market has waited for a plan to cut
production from OPEC and its allies.
Over the weekend, Saudi Arabia sent a signal that a
production cut deal may be ahead, potentially muting the price
decline. U.S. President Donald Trump said he will put pressure
on Saudi Arabia and its allies for such a deal.
"I don't know that anyone is going to get too aggressively
short before the meeting," said Robert McNally, president of
Rapidan Energy Group in Bethesda, Maryland.
Brent crude LCOc1 traded lower by $2.12 a barrel, or 6.2%
at $31.99, by 7:11 p.m. EDT (11:11 GMT), after earlier touching
a session low of $30.03 a barrel.
U.S. crude CLc1 was off $2.04 a barrel, or 7.3%, at $26.30
a barrel.
Saudi Arabia's decision to postpone its posting of the
international prices for its crude for the first time indicates
that it is not eager to flood the market with low-priced crude
before a potential agreement, McNally said.
"That's a pretty clear sign that they are open to cutting
production in May," he said.
The kingdom delayed the release until Friday to wait for the
outcome of the meeting between OPEC and its allies regarding
possible output cuts, a Saudi source told Reuters. said on Saturday that he will put tariffs on Saudi and
Russian production, potentially accelerating an output cutback.
OPEC and its allies postponed an emergency meeting scheduled
for Monday, led by Saudi Arabia, where the oil cuts could be
agreed upon. A senior Saudi source told Reuters on Sunday that
the kingdom would now host the meeting via videoconference on
Thursday and the delay was to allow more time to bring other
producers on board. Russian President Vladimir Putin put the blame for the crash
in prices on Saudi Arabia on Friday, prompting a response from
Riyadh the following day disputing Putin's assertions.
OPEC and its allies are working on a global agreement for an
unprecedented oil production cut equivalent to around 10% of
worldwide supply in what they expect to be a global effort
including countries that do not exert state control over output,
such as the United States.
Trump has, however, made no commitment to take the
extraordinary step of persuading U.S. companies to cut output.
Per Magnus Nysveen, head of analysis at Rystad Energy, said
the decline in global demand because of the coronavirus pandemic
and the global lockdowns was larger than the proposed cuts by
the OPEC+ alliance.
"It is not strange for the market to hike prices by
enthusiasm such as Friday's, but for the levels to stay stable
for more than a day or two, it takes concrete developments and
deals on the ground," he said.