Oil prices slid by up to 2% in early trade on Friday, adding to overnight declines, on worries that refineries will take time to resume operations after the big freeze in the U.S. South, creating a gap in demand, while OPEC+ supplies were expected to rise.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell $1.14, or 1.9%, to $59.38 a barrel at 0421 GMT, after declining 1% on Thursday, as reported by Reuters.
Read alsoG7 Ambassadors name conditions for Ukraine to get IMF trancheBrent crude futures dropped $1.03, or 1.6%, to $62.90 a barrel, after declining 0.6% on Thursday.
Both benchmark contracts rallied to 13-month highs on Thursday driven by the historic freeze in U.S. southern states. While analysts estimate the extreme cold has shut in as much as one-third of U.S. crude production, attention has now turned to the impact on refiners.
OPEC+ sources told Reuters the group's producers are likely to ease curbs on supply after April given the recovery in prices.
