UPDATE 9-Oil prices flat; OPEC+ mulls supply cut as virus hits demand

* Too early to say coronavirus peaking in China -WHO
* OPEC+ committee sees need for 600,000-bpd cut
* 'The Russians are raining on the news' from OPEC+
* China to halve tariffs on additional U.S. goods

(Updates with settlement prices, adds market activity,
commentary)
By Stephanie Kelly
NEW YORK, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Oil futures gave up early gains
and settled narrowly mixed on Thursday, as OPEC and its partner
Russia gave mixed signals about possible further output cuts to
mitigate the impact of any weakening in global demand due to the
coronavirus outbreak.
Brent crude LCOc1 futures lost 35 cents to settle at
$54.93 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1
futures rose 20 cents to settle at $50.95 a barrel.
Both contracts rose more than $1 a barrel early, then pared
gains as traders waited to see whether Russia was on board with
possible further output cuts along with the Organization of the
Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies.
"The Russians are raining on the news," said Phil Flynn, an
analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. "The production cut
probably is needed to get off the short-term demand
destruction."
As the coronavirus outbreak has sapped energy demand, an
OPEC+ technical panel has recommended a provisional oil output
cut of 600,000 barrels per day (bpd), two sources said. The
panel proposed that the cut start immediately and continue until
June if all members agree to it, a source said. The Joint Technical Committee (JTC) advises the OPEC+ group
but makes no decisions. The coronavirus outbreak has resulted in quarantines and cut
off thousands of flights to China. Its death toll has risen to
more than 550 in China, the world's second-largest economy and
epicenter of the outbreak.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said it was too early to
say the disease had peaked in China, but noted that Wednesday
was the first day that the number of new cases in China had
dropped. Hopes the outbreak may be settling have injected some
optimism into an oil market that has fallen more than 15% this
year.
Over the last two days, financial markets have been buoyed
by unconfirmed reports of a possible advance in producing drugs
to counter the coronavirus. MKTS/GLOB The WHO has played down
reports of such breakthrough drugs. In China, short-term sales of crude oil and liquefied
natural gas almost ground to a halt this week as the coronavirus
slowed economic activity and cut demand. The front-month contracts of both Brent and WTI remained in
contango LCOc1-LCOc2 , with longer-dated futures at a premium
to shorter-dated contracts, indicating the market sees ample
supply or falling demand for crude. "This week's dramatic flip from backwardation to contango
in the Brent term structure strongly suggests a liquidation
process that has yet to be completed," Jim Ritterbusch,
president of Ritterbusch and Associates, said in a note.
Separately, China on Thursday said it would halve additional
tariffs levied against 1,717 U.S. goods last year after the
signing of a Phase 1 trade deal between the two countries.
"This makes China's goal to increase its U.S. purchases to
$200 billion over the next two years more achievable," JBC
Energy said in a note.

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
CHART: U.S. oil may rise into $52.65-$63.47 range
Brent oil may retest resistance at $56.58
crude oil mkt flips to contango as coronavirus spread
strangles China's oil demand https://tmsnrt.rs/2uemy9B
Change in Brent crude oil prices since Jan 20, 2020 https://tmsnrt.rs/31sQsTs
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>