US, China appear close to a deal that will roll back US tariff­s on $200b worth of Chines­e goodsLONDON: Oil prices rose on Monday, buoyed by OPEC output cuts and reports that the United States and China are inching closer to a deal on a tariff row that has slowed global economic growth. International Brent futures were up $0.80 at $65.87 a barrel by 1037 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up $0.55 at $56.35 per barrel. In the United States, there are signs that the oil production boom of the past years, which has seen crude output rise by more than 2 million bpd since early 2018 to more than 12 million bpd, may slow down. “Refineries are now clearly winding down for maintenance … That means softer crude off-take by refineries and softer signals from crude oil spot prices …” said SEB bank chief commodities analyst Bjarne Schieldrop.

Source: The Express Tribune March 04, 2019 13:29 UTC