Oil rises on supply worries, while virus-led demand concerns ease

Oil prices rose nearly 1% on Thursday, extending big gains from a day earlier, as the market worries about crude supply disruptions and demand concerns were cushioned after a sharp drop in new coronavirus cases at the epicentre of the outbreak.

Tensions in Libya that have led to a blockade of its ports and oilfields have shown no signs of a resolution, while U.S. sanctions on a subsidiary of Russian state oil major Rosneft to cut Venezuelan crude from the market have helped rekindle global oil supply worries.

Brent crude futures rose 45 cents, or 0.8%, to $59.57 a barrel by 0208 GMT. The international benchmark rose 2.4% on Wednesday.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures climbed 49 cents, or 0.9%, to $53.78 per barrel. U.S. crude also closed up 2.4% in the previous session.

China's central Hubei province had 349 new confirmed cases on Wednesday, the lowest in more than three weeks, while death toll rose by 108, down from 132 the previous day.

Further supporting oil prices were expectations the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies including Russia would likely to deepen ongoing supply cuts.

China's move to cut its benchmark lending rate on Thursday also helped to ease worries about demand destruction in the world's second-biggest oil consumer and its largest crude oil importer.