The chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell is preparing for a tough and uncertain energy market, amid heightened fears China's fast-spreading coronavirus could suppress oil demand growth.

It comes amid speculation that OPEC and allied non-OPEC producers could soon step in to extend production cuts in order to support falling oil prices.

Financial markets have been spooked by the spread of a deadly pneumonia-like virus, with energy market participants trying to assess the potential economic fallout.

International benchmark Brent crude traded at $58.40 a barrel Thursday morning, down nearly 2.4%, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) stood at $52.13, around 2.2% lower.

Oil prices had steadied in recent sessions, after a rout pushed both crude benchmarks to their lowest level since October on Monday.

Brent has now fallen almost 15% since climbing to an early January peak, with WTI more than 17% lower over the same period.

"The coronavirus, I'm sure, will keep a lot of people on edge — and rightly so," Ben van Beurden, CEO of Royal Dutch Shell, told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" on Thursday.

"It is a very concerning development, a lot of people will be anxious and of course we are monitoring very closely what is happening," he added.

"I am absolutely convinced — and that is what we are seeing at the moment — that it will not help sentiment," he warned.

"At this point in time, sentiment in oil markets is not so much sentiment about supply, it is all sentiment in demand."