Worry that oil producing heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Russia were headed for a stalemate on production-cut talks sent crude prices lower on Wednesday, amid data showing U.S. output at a new record high.
West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark for U.S. crude prices, settled down 40 cents, or 0.8%, at $46.78 per barrel.
Brent, the London-traded global benchmark for crude, settled down 73 cents, or 1.4%, to $51.13
Crude prices began the day up on reports that oil producers gathered in Vienna under the OPEC+ alliance would agree to a total production cut of at least 1 million barrels per day from this quarter onward to mitigate some of the demand destruction to energy from the novel coronavirus outbreak. Adding to a prior deal in December, OPEC+ would be removing a total 3.1 million bpd, or 3.1% of global supply, from the market if those reports proved true.
Source : Investing.com