Oil kept falling toward the lowest level since 2003 as prospects for a deal between OPEC and Texas to limit production appeared to fade, while a U.S. coronavirus rescue package ran into political delays.

Futures in London fell more than 8% in early Asian trade after plunging 20% last week. Texas Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton landed a rare invitation to attend OPEC’s June meeting on Friday, but just hours later hopes for an agreement began to unravel as his call to curb output was criticized by fellow regulators and drillers.

Brent for May settlement lost 4.8% to $25.68 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe Exchange as of 8:47 a.m. in Singapore after dropping to as low as $24.68 earlier. In a sign of the deteriorating demand outlook, the grade’s six-month timespread was $8.51 a barrel in contango, the widest since 2009.

West Texas Intermediate for May delivery declined 0.5% to $22.31 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after falling to as low as $20.80 earlier. The contract plummeted 29% last week, the most since 1991.

Source : Bloomberg