Top oil producers started a crucial meeting on Thursday to discuss a possible cut in output after a collapse in demand due to the coronavirus and a Saudi-Russian price war caused the market to crash.
The videoconference meeting began between OPEC, its OPEC+ allies, including Russia and other key non-members.
Oil prices rose sharply as the meeting opened, extending earlier big gains, but then fell back again later to post more modest gains as nervous traders took profits.
The meeting is seen as the best chance of providing support to prices which have been wallowing near two-decade lows.
Experts warn that without concerted action the commodity risks a steep sell-off.
Last week U.S. President Donald Trump claimed Russia and Saudi Arabia would step back from their stand-off and agree to slash output.
Then OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia called for an urgent meeting of producers “to try to reach a fair deal” to “stabilise the oil market” following a phone call between its Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Mr. Trump.
Thursday’s meeting intends to conclude an agreement to cut production by between 10 and 15 million barrels per day, Kuwait’s Oil Minister Khaled al-Fadhel said in an interview with the Kuwaiti Al-Rai daily.