The Coronavirus and Oil Prices

One possible side effect from the coronavirus seeming to come under control: oil prices are rising. Oil prices rose over 3 percent yesterday as China reported its lowest daily number of new coronavirus cases since late January. That stoked hopes that fuel demand in the world’s second-largest oil-consuming economy may begin to recover.

Brent futures, the international benchmark, gained $1.78, to $55.79 per barrel yesterday, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained $1.23 to $51.17. Those were the highest settles for both futures since January.

The demand concerns from the outbreak had pushed Brent and WTI to their lowest level in 13 months on Monday. at that point, both benchmarks are down more than 20 percent from the highs they had reached in January.