OPEC Secretary Mohammad Barkindo said the group did not intend to drive US shale oil producers out of business, in response to US barrels' price briefly turning negative in April.

In April, the group agreed on the single most significant output cut in history due to plummeting oil prices caused by the pandemic.

Barkindo said OPEC had established a communication line with independent producers in the US and thanked both the US and the G20 for restoring communication with OPEC+ producers.

It costs more for US shale drillers to produce oil than their conventional counterparts in OPEC, so the slide in prices this year has had a devastating impact on that industry.

The crisis point occurred on April 21 when storage space for US light sweet crude oil at Cushing in Oklahoma reached full capacity, forcing prices to tumble for the first time.

Oil prices dipped on Thursday amid concerns about the coronavirus's renewed spread in the US and other countries.

The price of Brent crude dipped 0.2 percent to $43.20 in early afternoon trade in London while US WTI also slid by about 0.7 percent to $40.59.