Oil deepens losses, Brent drops about 2.5%

Oil prices continued to fall on Friday, to head for weekly losses, as concerns mounted after the spread of the deadly Chinese virus in a number of countries, which impacts the global economy.

Baker Hughes will reveal its count for crude and natural gas drilling rigs in the US later today.

The US announced the second confirmed case of the Chinese virus, and Beijing revealed that the deadly coronavirus' death toll rose to 26 victims, with more than 800 infected.

Concerns mounted after multiple confirmed cases also appeared in the US, Japan and Scotland, but the World Health Organization reassured that there is no reason to declare a global emergency.

At 17:43 GMT, WTI crude shed 2.5% to $54.25 a barrel, with a session-high of $55.9 and a low of $53.8.

Brent dipped 2.4% to $60.5 a barrel, after hitting a high of $62.4 and a low of $60.2.