Crude oil futures fall more than 1% on coronavirus-related demand concerns

Crude oil futures fell more than 1% in mid-morning trade in Asia Thursday as concerns of slower jet fuel demand emerged amid the recent rise in coronavirus-related cases and deaths Wednesday.

At 10:55 am Singapore time (0255 GMT), March ICE Brent crude futures fell 70 cents/b (1.11%) from Wednesday's settle at $62.51/b, while the NYMEX March light sweet crude contract fell 79 cents/b (1.40%) at $55.95/b.

Crude oil futures earlier collapsed more than 2% to settle at six-week lows Wednesday.

Nearly 500 cases have been reported and 17 reported deaths attributed to the current Wuhan coronavirus (novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV) as of Wednesday.

Apart from China, cases have also been reported in Thailand, South Korea, Japan, and the US, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"With the Lunar New Year holidays about to start, there are fears that one of the globe's busiest travel periods could be impacted," ANZ analysts said in a note Thursday.

Expectations of higher crude inventories also added to bearish pressure.

"The market is expecting this week's US EIA [Energy Information Administration] report to show a strong rise in inventories, as well as strong gains in US shale oil output," ANZ analysts added.

The weekly report from the EIA will be out later Thursday due to holiday in the US earlier this week.

The American Petroleum Institute, meanwhile, estimated a 1.57 million barrel increase in US crude oil stockpiles on the week, adding to concerns that the supplies were high at present, according to OCBC analysts quoting API data on Thursday.

As of 0255 GMT, the US Dollar Index was down 0.09% at 97.295.