Crude oil prices were slightly down to begin Wednesday with investors hoping the U.S. and China will soon solve their trade issues; drive global economic growth and overall oil demand.
International benchmark Brent crude gained 1.6 percent on Tuesday to finish the day at $65.78 per barrel, but was down by 0.3 percent to trade at $65.59 a barrel at 0650 GMT on Wednesday.
American benchmark West Texas Intermediate increased 1 percent to close the previous session on Tuesday at $56.03 a barrel, however it fell 0.4 percent to $55.81 per barrel on Wednesday at 0650 GMT.
'China Trade Deal (and more) in advanced stages. Relationship between our two Countries is very strong. I have therefore agreed to delay U.S. tariff hikes. Let’s see what happens?' U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on social media on Monday.
'Assuming both sides make additional progress, we will be planning a Summit for President Xi and myself, at Mar-a-Lago, to conclude an agreement. A very good weekend for U.S. & China!' he wrote Sunday on Twitter.
The leaders of the world's two biggest economies agreed on Dec. 1, 2018 that their countries would not impose further reciprocal tariffs for a period of 90 days until March 1 when a rise from 10 percent to 25 percent on some U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods would take effect.
A successful round of talks would result in a trade agreement that could end the standoff between the U.S. and China and could provide positive sentiment for the global economy.
Experts also assert that higher global economic growth would increase overall global oil demand and push crude prices higher.
The global oil market will closely watch the weekly change in the U.S.' crude oil inventories and production that will be released on Wednesday at 1430 GMT by the U.S.' Energy Information Administration (EIA).
The U.S.' crude oil production reached a new record high level of 12 million barrels per day for the week ending Feb. 15, and commercial crude oil stocks in the country have been rising for five consecutive weeks, according to the EIA data.
By Ovunc Kutlu
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr