Oil prices recover 8 percent after historic losses

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Oil prices rose roughly eight percent on Tuesday, slightly recovering from the largest single-day losses in nearly 30 years.

Brent crude futures rose $2.85, or 8.3 percent, to $37.20 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained $2.46, or 7.9 percent, to $33.66 a barrel, Reuters reported.

The benchmarks fell 25 percent on Monday, dropping to their lowest levels since February 2016 and marking the largest percentage decline in a single day since January 17, 1991, when oil prices fell at the start of the first Gulf War.

Prices fell as a three-year agreement to reduce supplies collapsed on Friday between Saudi Arabia and Russia and other major oil producers. This led to a so-called price war between the two major oil producers, leading to a downward spiral.

Tuesday's boost in prices also comes as the rate of novel coronavirus infections slows in mainland China where the outbreak initially occurred. The disease has struck over 118,000 people, according to reported numbers, killing over 4,000 of them.

Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in his country in Wuhan for the first time since the epidemic began. China is among the world’s top oil consumers and the spread of the virus slowed its economy as parts of the country affected by it were completely shut down.

As infections have slowed in China, however, the number of cases has soared in Europe and also Iran, a new epicenter for the virus, with close to 300 people dead and about 8,000 cases reported. 

Editing by John J. Catherine