Oil prices edged higher on Thursday, as investors hoped the world’s biggest producers would cut output more, while they largely shrugged off forecasts of slumping demand due to the coronavirus outbreak in top oil importer China.

Brent crude rose 40 cents, or 0.7%, to $56.19 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate rose 25 cents, or 0.49%, to settle at $51.42 per barrel.

U.S. gasoline futures jumped more than 1%, supported by outages at Exxon Mobil Corp’s 502,500 barrel-per-day (bpd) Baton Rouge, Louisiana and at Phillips 66′s 285,000-bpd Bayway refinery in Linden, New Jersey.

Source: CNBC