By Yuka Obayashi
TOKYO, March 11 (Reuters) - Oil prices climbed for a second
day on Wednesday, lifted by hopes that U.S. producers will cut
output, but gains were limited compared with Monday's crash
after Saudi Arabia and Russia triggered a price war.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 rose $1.38, or 3.7%, to $38.60 a
barrel by 0126 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI)
crude CLc1 gained $0.97, or 2.8%, to $35.33 a barrel,
following a jump of over 8% the previous day.
"Expectations that U.S. shale oil producers will need to
trim output helped improve the market sentiment," said Satoru
Yoshida, a commodity analyst with Rakuten Securities.
Oil and equity markets had staged solid rebounds on Tuesday
after the previous day's pummelling, with signs of co-ordinated
action by the world's biggest economies to cushion the economic
impact of the coronavirus epidemic helping pull investors out of
panic mode. Still, "the rebound in crude oil is not expected to last
long, with Saudi Arabia and Russia boasting about how much they
can boost output by as the battle for market share begins," ANZ
said in a note.
Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday it would boost its oil supplies
to a record high in April, raising the stakes in a standoff with
Russia and effectively rebuffing a suggestion from Moscow for
new talks on production levels.