Brent oil dives below $30 a barrel with oversupply

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

The sun sets behind an idle pump jack near Karnes City, Texas, on April 8, 2020. (AP Photo)

Brent oil price dived below $30 per barrel on April 14 with rising oversupply in the global market due to low oil consumption around the world.

Price of the international benchmark hit $29.85 a barrel at 1548GMT for a daily loss of 5.95% after closing Monday at $31.74 per barrel.

American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was at $21.07 per barrel at the same time for a 6% decline after ending the previous day at $22.41 a barrel.

The novel coronavirus continues to weaken economic activities and oil demand around the world, which increases the glut of oil supply since oil companies continue pumping crude.

OPEC and non-OPEC oil-producing countries, which include 23 nations dubbed as OPEC+, agreed on Sunday to lower their total crude oil production by 9.7 million barrels per day for two months starting from May 1.

However, the absence of production curbs in April creates massive crude oversupply this month as global oil consumption remains weak.

While Brent crude plummeted to $21.65 per barrel on March 30, WTI fell to $19.27 a barrel, as both benchmarks marked their lowest levels since 2002.