A recovery in China’s economy following its coronavirus outbreak has prompted a rebound in demand for oil, but analysts have warned that will not be enough to soak up a global glut that has resulted in a collapse in crude prices. 

Chinese petroleum consumption has plummeted this year as the pandemic, which locked down swaths of industrial supply chains and closed businesses in the country, severely hit the world’s second-biggest economy. The international spread of the virus is now expected to result in a global recession, which has piled more pressure on oil prices.

Record production cuts — set to reduce global output by about 10 per cent — agreed on Sunday in a deal that ended a stand-off between Russia and Saudi Arabia could ease a supply glut, but traders remain concerned that plummeting global demand could far outstrip curbs.