VIENNA (Reuters) – OPEC’s plans for deep and prolonged oil cuts were derailed on Friday as non-OPEC Russia refused to support the move arguing that it was too early to predict the impact of a coronavirus outbreak on global energy demand, sources told Reuters.
FILE PHOTO: The logo of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) sits outside its headquarters ahead of the OPEC and NON-OPEC meeting, Austria December 6, 2019. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/File Photo
Failure to secure a deal between OPEC, Russia and other members of an alliance known as OPEC+, which has propped up oil prices since 2016, sent the price of benchmark crude into a tailspin.
Brent has lost almost a third of its value this year, tumbling to $47 a barrel, putting oil-dependent nations under heavy strain and putting many U.S. shale and other energy companies in severe distress.
“The deal is dead,” one OPE