Brent oil jumps nearly 3% after Trump lays out plan for easing coronavirus restrictions

TOKYO, April 17 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Friday with
Brent gaining nearly 3% after President Donald Trump laid out
guidelines on reviving a U.S. economy ravaged by the coronavirus
pandemic that has punched a huge hole in global demand for crude
and refined products.
Brent was up by 75 cents, or 2.7%, at $28.57 a barrel by
0058 GMT, while U.S. crude CLc1 for May delivery, which
expires on April 21, was up 1 cent, or 0.1%, at $19.88 a barrel.
The more active June contract was up $1.1, or 4.3%, at $26.63.
Trump laid out a three-stage process for ending lockdowns to
stop the spread of the coronavirus that has now killed more than
32,000 Americans and nearly 140,000 worldwide, while some other
countries were also relaxing restrictions. "Oil prices are surging after President Trump issued
guidelines that will see a portion of the country open a lot
sooner than anyone expected," said Edward Moya, senior market
analyst at OANDA in New York.
Optimism that there may be signs of an easing of the health
crisis is sending stock and other riskier markets like oil
higher. MKTS/GLOB
Still, both oil benchmarks are heading for a second
consecutive week of losses, with U.S. oil around 18-year lows:
Analysts have slashed forecasts for prices and demand due to the
spread of the coronavirus and oversupply concerns. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
lowered its forecast for 2020 global oil demand and warned it
may not be the last revision downward. OPEC now sees a
contraction of global demand of 6.9 million barrels per day
(bpd), compared with a small increase predicted last month, due
to the coronavirus outbreak. "Downward risks remain significant, suggesting the
possibility of further adjustments, especially in the second
quarter," OPEC said of the demand forecast.
OPEC and other producers including Russia, in a grouping
known as OPEC+, over the weekend agreed on production cuts of
nearly 10 million bpd, after an earlier cooperation agreement
collapsed.
Even allowing for another 10 million bpd of cuts supposed to
come from producers like the United States and Norway due to
weak prices, there is still a mismatch between supply and demand
of around 10 million bpd, most analysts say.