Oil prices head up as US and China start trade talks

Oil prices have ticked up again today as markets react to Opec’s oil cuts and hopes of a thaw in US-China trade relations.

International standard Brent crude had jumped over two per cent in the morning, but fell back to a 1.5 per cent rise at $57.94 in the early afternoon.

Meanwhile, US standard WTI crude was trading up by one per cent to $48.45.

The rise came as China and the US sit down together in Beijing today.

Investors hope an improvement in the poor relations between the two countries could boost international trade and bump up demand for oil.

The price of Brent crude has increased 7.5 per cent since the beginning of the year following a massive drop in prices in the last three months of 2018.

Prices, which reached around $85 per barrel in early October, fell as low as $50.77 on Christmas Eve.

Since the turn of the year investors holding oil have been helped by Opec’s output cuts.

The oil producers’ cartel and its allies, including Russia, promised to cut production by 1.2m barrels per day.

Brent crude has risen by around $4 since the cuts came into force on 1 January.

“This relief rally is being supported by market expectations that Sino-U.S trade talks, beginning today in Beijing, would lead to an easing in tensions between the world’s two largest economies,” said Dean Popplewell vice president of market analysis at Oanda.

“Despite the markets fears of a pending economic slowdown beginning this year, crude prices are also being supported by supply cuts started late last year by Opec.”