Crude Oil Rises As U.S.-EU Agrees to Negotiation

• Crude Oil Rises As U.S.-EU Agrees to Negotiation

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Thursday following an agreement reached by both the United States and the European Union to negotiate trade terms.

U.S. President Donald Trump agreed with the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker at the White House on Wednesday to refrain from imposing car tariffs while the European Union and the United States start talks on cutting other trade barriers.

“Certainly it’s positive for the economy and commodities,” said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital Management in New York. “This sort of revives economic prospects that were dimmed from the trade wars that were started.”

This was before the Saudi Arabia called-off oil shipments through a strait in the Red Sea following an attack on two oil tankers. Suggesting hold-off on additional oil supplies.

The Brent crude oil rose 61 cents to $74.23 a barrel, while the U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil climbed 31 cents to $69.61, gaining 0.5 percent.

U.S. crude inventories declined more than expected to their lowest level since 2015, the Energy Information Administration reported on Wednesday.

Crude inventories declined by 6.1 million barrels last week, more than the 2.9 million barrels predicted by experts.

“A tick higher in refining activity, in combination with a jump in crude exports and lower imports, has led to a solid draw to crude inventories,” said Matthew Smith, director of commodity research at Clipper Data, in a note

All these coupled with easing trade tensions bolstered global oil outlook. However, uncertainty remains with China and the U.S. yet to reach an accord regarding their trade dispute.