NEW YORK, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices settled mixed on Thursday as market participants awaited a key decision from the world's major producers on whether they would deepen output cuts.
The West Texas Intermediate for March delivery rose 20 cents to settle at 50.95 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for April delivery decreased 35 cents to close at 54.93 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
"After a 20 percent price slide in the past two weeks, the oil market appears to have embarked on a technical countermovement," Carsten Fritsch, energy analyst at Commerzbank Research said in a note on Thursday.
Traders eyed on possible production cuts from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, a group known as OPEC+.
Delegates from OPEC and its allies weighed the impact of the coronavirus on oil demand these days, with Saudi Arabia pushing for deeper oil-production while Russia favored an extension of the current deal, according to some reports.
In December, the group agreed to deepen production cuts by an additional 500,000 barrels a day, bringing the total cuts to 1.7 million barrels daily.
The OPEC, Russia and other producers have been largely limiting oil output in recent years in order to boost prices.
The West Texas Intermediate for March delivery rose 20 cents to settle at 50.95 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for April delivery decreased 35 cents to close at 54.93 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
"After a 20 percent price slide in the past two weeks, the oil market appears to have embarked on a technical countermovement," Carsten Fritsch, energy analyst at Commerzbank Research said in a note on Thursday.
Traders eyed on possible production cuts from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, a group known as OPEC+.
Delegates from OPEC and its allies weighed the impact of the coronavirus on oil demand these days, with Saudi Arabia pushing for deeper oil-production while Russia favored an extension of the current deal, according to some reports.
In December, the group agreed to deepen production cuts by an additional 500,000 barrels a day, bringing the total cuts to 1.7 million barrels daily.
The OPEC, Russia and other producers have been largely limiting oil output in recent years in order to boost prices.
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