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Brent crude futures <LCOc1> for December fell by 6 cents to
$42.39 a barrel by 0953 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate
<CLc1> futures were down 5 cents at $40.15.
"There is a risk that the demand recovery is stalled by the
recent increase in COVID-19 cases in many countries," the
International Energy Agency said on Wednesday.
"The longer term offers little encouragement for producers; the
curve shows prices not reaching $50 per barrel until 2023.
Truly, those wishing to bring about a tighter oil market are
looking at a moving target."
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cut
its oil demand forecast on Tuesday, citing economic dislocations
caused by the virus.
The heads of two of the world's biggest oil producers, Russian
President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin
Salman, discussed the situation in energy markets during a
telephone call, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.
OPEC and producer allies such as Russia, a group known as OPEC+,
will stick to plans to taper oil production cuts from January,
United Arab Emirates energy minister Suhail al-Mazrouei said on
Tuesday.
"Crude prices are looking very vulnerable as the coronavirus
continues to spread like wildfire across Europe and trending
higher in the U.S.," said Edward Moya, a senior market analyst
at OANDA.
U.S. crude oil inventories were seen falling last week while
distillate stockpiles are likely to have declined for a fourth
week, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Tuesday.
The poll was conducted ahead of reports from the American
Petroleum Institute and the Energy Information Administration.
Both the reports were delayed by a day because of a public
holiday in the United States on Monday.
(Reporting by Jessica Jaganathan; Editing by Christian
Schmollinger and David Goodman)
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