Oil prices jumped 1.5% on Wednesday on hopes that major producers have made progress towards sealing an agreement to implement deeper output cuts aimed at offsetting the slump in demand caused by the global coronavirus outbreak.

Brent crude (LCOc1) rose by 78 cents, or 1.50%, to $52.64 a barrel at 05:02 GMT, after settling down 4 cents in the previous session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures (CLc1) rose by 72 cents, or 1.53%, to $47.90 a barrel, up for a third session.

A panel of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, a grouping known as OPEC+, recommended cutting oil output by an extra 1 million barrels per day (bpd) on Tuesday. The recommendation may mean that Russia and Saudi Arabia, the two biggest producers in the OPEC+ group, are close to a deal to support prices.

Source : Reuters