Oil production capacity has to come offline - Exxon Mobil CEO

Exxon Mobile CEO Darren Woods is the latest to join the bandwagon of analysts and oil experts who are of the opinion that the massive demand destruction due to coronavirus outbreak will force producers to scale back output or shut down operations. 

"Capacity has to come offline. There will be economics that force producers to shut in... frankly because there is no demand for the product so eventually you’ve got to stop making it,” Woods told CNBC. 

Exxon is trimming its CAPEX by 30%, according to a CNBC report. 

The OPEC+, a loose organization of 24 oil-producing nations led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, is widely expected to agree to some kind of output cuts on Thursday. Most analysts, however, are convinced that output cuts won't compensate for the sharp slide in demand anticipated over the next few months. 

At press time, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude is changing hands near $26.20 and brent oil is trading near $33.70.