A group of 13 US senators from oil producing states threaten to take measures against Saudi Arabia for continuing a crude price war with Russia that has damaged US producers.

Oil prices plunge a further six percent Thursday after US President Donald Trump announced travel restrictions on Europe to combat the spread of the coronavirus, ramping up fears of more recession.

Iran’s Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh says US sanctions on the Iranian oil industry, apart from being a measure of political pressure, aim to open up the world oil market to American shale oil.

The US is looking to push its shale oil on Asian customers, but energy experts believe it is unthinkable that the grade can replace Iranian crude.

The resurgence of the US shale oil flies in the face of efforts by Saudi Arabia and its oil allies to squeeze shale drillers by keeping the prices low.

China has become the world's third largest shale gas producer behind the United States and Canada after delivering an output of almost 8 billion cubic meters in 2016.

On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed off on a new state policy strategy that views the US as aspiring to dominate the world’s oceans in a threat to Russia.