OPEC agreed on Thursday to cut output by an extra 1.5 million barrels per day in the second quarter of 2020 to support prices amid an outbreak of coronavirus but made it conditional on Russia joining in, two OPEC sources said.
The oil demand outlook has been hit hard by measures to halt the spread of the virus, disrupting factories, deterring people from traveling and slowing other business activity. Forecasts for crude demand growth in 2020 have been slashed as a result.
Saudi Arabia had suggested OPEC and its allies, including Russia, cut up to 1.5 million bpd for the second quarter of 2020 while extending existing cuts of 2.1 million bpd, which expire this month, to the end of 2020.