2020.03.3110:38:00UTC+00Oil Rebounds As US, Russia Agree To Talk

Oil prices rebounded from 18-year lows on Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to talks aimed at addressing volatility in the global oil markets.

Trump and Putin agreed during a phone call on Monday to have their top energy officials discuss slumping global oil markets, the Kremlin said.

"Opinions on the current state of global oil markets were exchanged. It was agreed there would be Russo-American consultations about this through the ministers of energy."

Benchmark Brent crude rallied 2.9 percent to $27.19 a barrel, after having closed at its lowest level November 2002 the previous day.

U.S. crude futures were up as much as 5.7 percent at $21.23 a barrel, after settling at their lowest level since February 2002 on Monday.

Energy demand is expected to drop substantially as it is now feared that the global coronavirus shutdown could last months.

The world economy, with the likely exception of India and China, will go into recession this year with a predicted loss of trillions of dollars of global income due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a latest UN trade report.

The economic fallout from COVID-19 is likely to get "much worse" before it gets better for some six billion people living in developing economies, the UN said and appealed for a $2.5 trillion rescue package to boost their resilience to further hardship.