Today, oil dropped more than 20% from a peak in January after the spreading virus hit demand in the world’s largest oil importer and fuelled concerns of excess supplies.

Brent crude LCOc1 slipped to $54.23 a barrel by 09:45 GMT, down 24 cents or 0.4%.

However, U.S. West Texas Intermediate CLc1 fell 25 cents or 0.5% to $50.07 a barrel.