Oil Edges Lower as Traders Await Result of USA-China Trade Talks

by Bloomberg | Mia Gindis, Julia Fanzeres
click here to read this article at Rigzone.com
*this article was not written by Roseland Oil & Gas

Oil edged lower as the market awaits the outcome of a second day of trade talks between the US and China.

West Texas Intermediate slipped near $65 a barrel after earlier rising as much as 1.5%. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the negotiations had been “fruitful.” Still, the talks haven’t yielded conclusive progress and may stretch into the night. Some Canadian oil sands production that was shut down by fires is coming back online, also easing prices off of intraday highs. 

Crude has traded in a roughly $5 range for most of the past two months as the outlook for summer demand softened the blow of the global trade war and a decision by OPEC+ to revive production at a faster-than-expected clip. The US, meanwhile, now sees domestic crude output declining next year for the first time since 2021, a roadblock to President Donald Trump’s energy dominance agenda.

Commodity trading advisers, which can accelerate price momentum, liquidated short positions to sit at flat in both WTI and Brent on Tuesday, according to data from Bridgeton Research Group. A further 2% to 3% price gain may trigger the funds to flip to net-long in US crude for the first time since February, the group added.

OPEC sees “no peak” in oil demand on the horizon, Haitham Al-Ghais, the organization’s secretary general, said at conference in Calgary. OPEC expects that demand will grow to 120 million barrels per day by 2050. 

On the geopolitical front, Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel, said Washington has doubts about the viability of a Palestinian state, a sticking point for several negotiations between the US and Middle Eastern counterparts. President Donald Trump earlier expressed concern that Iran was seeking too much in a potential nuclear deal.

by Bloomberg | Mia Gindis, Julia Fanzeres
click here to read this article at Rigzone.com
*this article was not written by Roseland Oil & Gas