Asia-Pacific Region Unlikely To Benefit From Low Oil Prices Due To COVID-19 Outbreak - UN

Andrei Savenkov. Even though the Asia-Pacific region may profit from falling oil prices, the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak will ultimately nullify the opportunities for development, Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) told Sputnik in an interview

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd April, 2020) Andrei Savenkov. Even though the Asia-Pacific region may profit from falling oil prices, the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak will ultimately nullify the opportunities for development, Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) told Sputnik in an interview.

"Although low oil prices can provide a favorable macroeconomic environment for oil importers in the region, the benefits may not materialize because the evolving COVID-19 pandemic makes it difficult for countries to boost demand and take full advantage of lower oil prices. Meanwhile, for oil exporters lower-than-anticipated oil prices could translate to budget shortfalls, pressure on currencies and economic slowdown," Alisjahbana said.

It is important to revitalize regional cooperation at the present time in order to overcome emerging difficulties created by the pandemic, the UN official noted.

Global oil prices began to fall in January amid the coronavirus pandemic in China. The spread of the disease across the globe and the breakup of the OPEC+ oil output cut deal in early March led to a huge oil market surplus, sending prices to their lowest points in the past two decades.

The price for the Urals oil blend for delivery to northwestern Europe fell on Wednesday to $10.54 per barrel, according to the Argus agency. However, Brent and WTI oil futures rebounded on Thursday by about 10 percent to around $27 and $22 per barrel, respectively, after US President Donald Trump said that Russia and Saudi Arabia would soon agree on market-regulating measures.