UPDATE 6-Oil prices slip as fuel demand sinks in most recent week

* U.S. Congress near deal on $2 trln stimulus package
* Vitol sees oil demand down 15-20 million bpd
* India in nationwide lockdown

(New throughout, updates prices, market activity and comments;
changes byline, new dateline, previous LONDON)
By Laura Sanicola
NEW YORK, March 25 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Wednesday
despite a massive pending U.S. economic stimulus package as the
coronavirus pandemic sharply dented U.S. fuel demand in the
latest week, with traders bracing for further declines.
Demand for oil products, especially jet fuel, is falling
worldwide as more governments announce nationwide lockdowns to
stop the spread of coronavirus. Fuel demand is expected to fall
sharply worldwide in the second quarter with aviation largely at
a halt and road travel severely curtailed. U.S. weekly gasoline product supplied - a proxy for demand -
dropped 859,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 8.8 million bpd last
week, the biggest decline since September 2019, according to the
U.S. Energy Information Administration. Overall fuel demand fell
by nearly 2.1 million bpd. Brent crude LCOc1 was down 17 cents, or 0.6%, to $26.98 a
barrel, at 09:10 AM GMT. U.S. crude CLc1 futures fell 21
cents, or 0.9%, to $23.80 a barrel.
Both contracts had posted strong gains of more than $1 a
barrel earlier in the session.
Crude inventories rose by 1.6 million barrels in the most
recent week. Inventories, which have risen for nine straight
weeks, are expected to keep growing as fuel demand declines and
refineries pare back activity. nL1N2BI12C]
The U.S. energy sector is slashing capital spending and jobs
as business activity plunged and the outlook has turned
"extremely pessimistic" amid the coronavirus pandemic, a survey
by the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank of oil and gas companies
showed on Wednesday.
"All indexes pointed to worsening conditions among oilfield
services firms," the Fed said in its report, noting that the
business activity index plunged from -4.2 in the fourth quarter
to -50.9 in the first, the lowest reading in the survey's
four-year history.
U.S. senators and Trump administration officials have
reached an agreement on a $2 trillion stimulus bill that
congress was expected to pass on Wednesday. Oil prices have fallen by more than 45% this month after
OPEC+, comprising the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) and other producers, including Russia, failed
to agree on extending output cuts.
Although oil futures received a "sentiment-led boost this
morning, the challenge for the physical oil market is a looming
and growing oversupply which will cause a 'nowhere to hide'
situation very soon", said Bjornar Tonhaugen, head of oil
markets at Rystad Energy.
The chief executive of the world's biggest oil trader, Vitol
Group, estimates a demand loss of 15 to 20 million barrels per
day (bpd) over the next few weeks. Vitol said refineries have so far cut about 7 million bpd, a
figure the company expects to rise further as storage fills up.
India, the world's second most populous country and the
third-largest oil consumer, has entered a 21-day lockdown.