Investing.com - Oil prices rebounded on Thursday, with Brent rising above $62 a barrel as fresh signs of progress in U.S.-China trade talks fueled hops for an end to the protracted trade war that has depressed global growth and the outlook for energy demand.
China said on Thursday that it had agreed with the United States for both sides to remove tariffs in phases, without specifying a timetable.
A deal may be signed this month by U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at a yet-to-be determined location.
The trade dispute has prompted analysts to lower forecasts for oil demand and raised concerns that a supply glut could develop in 2020. Oil fell on Wednesday, partly because of worries that a U.S.-China trade deal might be delayed.
“Today we start with a different set of headlines that they came to some agreement on the framework,” said Olivier Jakob, oil analyst at Petromatrix. “That is definitely what is supporting prices.”
Crude oil WTI futures were up 76 cents or 1.3%, at $57.09 per barrel by 08:11 AM ET (01:11 GMT). That's a gain of nearly $1 from when the Chinese Commerce Ministry made its comments.
London’s Brent crude was up 77 cents or 1.3%, to $62.51.
Oil prices had settled lower on Wednesday after the Energy Information Administration reported a larger-than-expected build in U.S. crude stocks last week. Crude stockpiles rose by 7.9 million barrels the EIA said, much more than the 1.5 million barrel build expected by analysts.
Oil prices have been underpinned by a deal between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Counties and allies, including Russia, to limit supplies until March next year. The producers meet on Dec. 5-6 in Vienna to review the policy.
OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo said this week he was more optimistic about the outlook for 2020 because of developments on trade disputes, appearing to downplay any need to cut output more deeply.
--Reuters contributed to this report