
Oil rose over 3% on Tuesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it would take steps to bolster the economy and on growing hopes the United States will soon reach a deal on a US$ 2 trillion coronavirus economic package.

Rockhopper Exploration, a partner in Premier Oil-operated Sea Lion offshore oil project in the Falkland Islands, is confident it will manage to farm-out a share in the project despite the low oil prices and COVID-10 uncertainty. The two companies in January signed non-binding heads of terms with US/Israel Navitas Petroleum, which should lead to Navitas obtaining a 30% interest in the Sea Lion offshore blocks.

U.S. oil prices reached their lowest point since 2003 on Wednesday as the coronavirus has reduced demand in countries around the world. The prices fell for a third session, with U.S. crude Clc1 reaching US$ 25.06 per barrel, the lowest prices since late April 2003. As of 11:35 GMT, U.S. crude Clc1 hit US$1.51 cents or 5.6 percent at US$ 25.44 per barrel.

Oil, which plunged about 25% on Monday, rebounded on Tuesday along with equities and other financial markets. Brent futures rose US$2.69, or 7.8%, to US$37.05 a barrel by 2:24 p.m. EDT (1824 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose US$2.73, or 8.8 percent, to US$33.86.

Oil prices plunged 30% in early trading after OPEC’s failure to strike a deal with its allies regarding production cuts caused Saudi Arabia to slash its prices as it reportedly gets set to ramp up production, leading to fears of an all-out price war.

UK Deputy Foreign Secretary for Europe and the Americas Wendy Morton held on Monday several meetings in Buenos Aires with officials from the new Argentine government looking to strengthen bilateral ties as well as boosting trade and investment.

Brazil increased the volume of biodiesel blended with diesel sold at the pump to 12% from 11% on Sunday, the latest increase to a biofuels mandate that aims to decrease Latin America's largest economy's dependence on imported barrels.

Guyana goes to the polls this Monday in a pivotal election in one of South America's poorest nations, where a coming oil boom is set to reshape an ethnically-divided political landscape.

Workers at Brazil’s state-owned oil giant Petrobras have ended a strike of nearly three weeks that left the firm scrambling to avoid a drop in production, labor unions said last Friday. Around 21,000 workers — a third of the total workforce — joined the mass walk-out at the start of the month.

Brazil’s state-run oil firm Petrobras reported last week a record net profit for 2019, thanks to asset sales under its strategy to divest non-core operations and focus on the deepwater pre-salt region offshore Brazil.