* Brent and U.S. crude hit fresh 3-month lows
* Saudi Arabia opens talks on possible Feb OPEC+ meeting
* WHO to decide if rapid spread constitutes global emergency
(Updates prices, market activity, adds commentary; changes
byline, dateline, previous LONDON)
By Stephanie Kelly
NEW YORK, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell 2% on Thursday
to the lowest in three months on concerns over the potential
economic impact of the coronavirus that continues to spread
worldwide, while the market also considered the possibility of
an early OPEC meeting.
Brent crude LCOc1 was down $1.20, or 2%, to $58.61 a
barrel by 10:56 a.m. EST (1556 GMT). Earlier in the session it
dropped to $58.17 a barrel, lowest since Oct. 15.
U.S. crude CLc1 fell $1.21, or 2.3%, to $52.12 a barrel,
after earlier falling to $51.92 a barrel, weakest since Oct. 10.
Infection from China's coronavirus spread to more than 8,100
people globally on Thursday, surpassing the total from the
2002-2003 SARS epidemic in a health crisis forecast to deal a
heavy blow to the world's second-largest economy.
Countries have started isolating hundreds of citizens
evacuated from the Chinese city of Wuhan on Thursday to stop the
spread of an epidemic that has killed 170 people.
Prices have steadied in recent days at three-month lows as
investors tried to assess what economic damage the virus might
inflict and its impact on demand for crude oil and its products.
"The market wants to look beyond this but it needs to get a
real sense as to whether they can get the coronavirus
contained," Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures Group in
Chicago, said in a note.
The rising death toll from the virus and its spread have
sent stocks around the world tumbling. The virus has left
policymakers, still grappling with the impact of the Sino-U.S.
trade war, fretting over the widening fallout. MKTS/GLOB
On Thursday, Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Masayoshi Amamiya
said China's huge presence in the world economy must be taken
into account in gauging the impact the outbreak could have on
global growth. The World Health Organization (WHO), which has so far held
off declaring the virus a global emergency, began another
meeting in Geneva to reconsider. Such a declaration would
trigger tighter containment and information-sharing guidelines,
but may disappoint Beijing, which had expressed confidence in
defeating it.
Major multinationals are closing operations in China and
airlines around the world are suspending or reducing direct
flights to the country.
"The only thing that can change the current trend is an
emergency OPEC meeting," said Olivier Jakob of consultancy
Petromatrix.
Saudi Arabia has opened a discussion about moving the
upcoming OPEC+ policy meeting to early February from March, four
OPEC+ sources said, after the recent slide in oil prices.
No final decision over the new date of the meeting has been
made, and not all OPEC members are on board yet, with Iran a
possible contender to oppose the move, the OPEC+ sources said.
CHART: Brent oil neutral in $59.43-$60.43 range Tracking the novel coronavirus https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7
GRAPHIC: U.S. petroleum inventories https://tmsnrt.rs/35Hre4S
CHART: U.S. oil may fall to $51.54 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>