2020.02.2508:33:00UTC+00Oil Holds Steady In Cautious Trade

Oil prices held mostly steady in cautious trade Tuesday after suffering heavy losses the previous day on concerns about the outlook for energy demand due to the rapidly spreading coronavirus outside China.

Benchmark Brent crude slid 0.1 percent to $55.72 a barrel, after losing 3.8 percent on Monday. U.S. crude futures were also down 0.1 percent at $51.36, after having dropped 3.7 percent in the previous session.

Virus concerns persist despite reports of continued drop in new virus cases in China outside Hubei.

Countries around the world stepped up efforts to prevent a pandemic of the flu-like virus, with the U.S. pledging $2.5 billion to fight the disease.

South Korea said it aims to test more than 200,000 members of a church at the center of a surge in coronavirus cases.

On Monday, the World Health Organization insisted it was premature to declare the deadly outbreak of a novel coronavirus a pandemic even though it had the potential to reach that level.

According to a report from Reuters, Saudi Aramco expects the coronavirus impact on oil demand to be short-lived.

Saudi Arabia's Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said that OPEC+ should not be complacent about the coronavirus.