High level trade talks between the two sides will begin Thursday. But according to media reports, no progress was made in the pair of preliminary, low-level conversations.
File photo: December 7, 2018, the pump jack is seen at sunset in the Daqing oil field in Heilongjiang Province, China. The photo was taken on December 7, 2018.
(Reuters Archive)
On Thursday, oil prices declined as big progress was expected in US-China trade talks that could defeat the cloud and darken the outlook for weak oil demand.
Global benchmark Brent Oil futures LCOc1 fell 26 cents (0.5{7be40b84a6a43fc4fae13304fce9a2695859798abfc41afd127b9f8b21c5f9c5}) to $ 58.05 per barrel by 0133 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil CLc1 decreased 0.4 percent to $ 52.38 per barrel.
Chinese government officials told Reuters that expectations for progress in negotiations to end the 15-month-old TAT deal dispute that lowered China's economic growth by slowing global economic growth have been lowered.
US President Donald Trump expressed optimism Wednesday saying the two countries are very likely to reach a trade agreement. But with a high-level trade debate that will begin later on Thursday, the China China Morning Post reported no progress in preliminary, low-level talks.
"Prices are basically under pressure from another trade war anvil," said AxiTrader Asia-Pacific market strategist Stephen Innes.
Innes said, “Merchants will be holding their fingers in the wind to measure the latest wind intensity. But the lowest price may be limited until the market receives at least some type of favorable tail wind.
In addition to concerns, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said that by October 4, US stocks had increased 2.9 million barrels, and analysts' expectations for a 1.4 million barrel increase were more than doubled.
On the other hand, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) gives Nigeria higher oil production targets under OPEC-led supply cuts agreements, increasing quotas from 165 million bpd to 175 million barrels per day and knowledge of the problem said .
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