Oil Jumps 3% on Reports of Effective Coronavirus Drug

Oil prices jumped by more than 3% on Wednesday on reports that scientists have developed an effective drug against the fast-spreading coronavirus that has weighed heavily on global economic activity.
News that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its producer allies are considering further output cuts to counter a potential squeeze on global oil demand further supported that had collapsed by more than 20% since early January, Reuters reported.
Both Brent crude oil futures and US West Texas Intermediate crude jumped by more than 3% in morning trade. Brent was up $1.36, or 2.6%, at $55.32 a barrel and WTI was up $1.19, or 2.4%, at $50.80.
China's Changjiang Daily, the official newspaper of the city of Wuhan where the virus outbreak began, reported on Tuesday that a team of researchers led by Zhejiang University professor Li Lanjuan have found that drugs Abidol and Darunavir can inhibit the virus in vitro cell experiments.
Separately, Sky News reported that a British scientist has made a significant breakthrough in the race for a vaccine by reducing part of the normal development time from two to three years to only 14 days.
A vaccine will be too late for the current virus but the breakthrough will be crucial if there is another outbreak, Sky said.
The economic slowdown resulting from the virus outbreak is expected to reduce 2020 global demand growth by 300,000-500,000 barrels per day, roughly 0.5% of global demand.
OPEC and allies led by Russia, a group known as OPEC+, weighed the impact on global oil demand and economic growth from the coronavirus outbreak at a meeting on Tuesday, hearing from China’s envoy to the United Nations in Vienna.