Global crude oil prices rose early Friday morning (April 17, 2020) after US President, Donald Trump, laid out unprecedented measures aimed at reviving the American economy which has been devastated by the Coronavirus pandemic.
According to information obtained from oilprice.com, Brent crude increased by 2.7% to sell at $28.5 per barrel by 0058 GMT. Bonny light also rose by about 0.6% to sell at about $21.5 per barrel of crude.
Apparently, the oil market is reacting to growing optimism over a possible end of to the global health scare caused by the Coronavirus pandemic. However, it should be noted that oil benchmarks are currently heading for a second consecutive week of losses, even as analysts have projected lower oil demands and oil prices in the coming days, due to the virus and supply glut.
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As Nairametrics reported, the International Energy Agency (IEA) had predicted that the global oil demand is expected to decline by 29 million barrels of crude oil per day in April. The IEA also forecasted that there will be a decline of 9 million barrels of crude oil per day for the rest of 2020, assuming demand improves in the second half of the year.
Part of the fallout from the virus has been low crude oil demand, as many factories around the world remain shut in the meantime.
