Earlier in the day, Russia’s Gazprom Neft CEO Alexander Dyukov said that the recently concluded OPEC+ deal could increase oil prices to between $40 and $45 a barrel if the international community manages to curb the COVID-19 outbreak.

The price of Brent crude futures fell below $30 per barrel for the first time in past six trading sessions, as it was trading in the range $30-$37 last week on expectations of large cuts by the OPEC+ group.

As of 15:31 GMT, June futures for Brent crude were trading down 5.36 percent at $30.04 per barrel, touching a six-day low of $29.95 per barrel minutes earlier.

May futures for WTI crude fell by 5.98 percent to $21.07 per barrel.

Earlier on Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) slashed its average oil prices forecast by $22.42 to $35.61 per barrel for this year and by $20.16 to $37.87 per barrel for next year.

At the same time, traders doubt that OPEC+ efforts to reduce crude production will be sufficient, and fears about the market balance persist.

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