Oil prices stabilize as banking deal eases some worries about crude appetite

By Laila Kearney

(Reuters) – Oil prices stabilised on Tuesday after falling early in the previous session on investor worries that recent banking-sector problems would weigh on the global economy and limit demand for crude.

Brent crude futures for May settlement gained 5 cents and traded at $73.84 per barrel by 0049 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 9 cents to $67.73 a barrel. In the previous session, both Brent and WTI fell about $3 a barrel before settling higher.

The April WTI contract expires on Tuesday; May is the most active contract for WTI.

Tuesday‘s slight uptick in prices came after a historic deal in which UBS, Switzerland’s largest bank, agreed to buy Credit Suisse in an effort to save the bank.

After an announcement of the agreement, major central banks, including the U.S. Federal Reserve and European Central Bank, indicated that they would enhance market liquidity and support other banks.

Officials with the G7, meanwhile, said the Group of Seven Nations was unlikely to revise a $60-per-barrel price cap on Russian oil as planned. The officials said EU countries ambassadors were told by the European Commission over the weekend there was no pressing desire among the group for an immediate review.

OPEC+, which includes the worlds top oil exporting countries and allies including Russia, is set for a meeting on April 3. The group agreed in October to cut oil production targets by 2 million barrels per day until the end of 2023.

(Reporting by Laila Kearney in New York; Editing by Gerry Doyle)