By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil rose on Thursday after the Chinese Commerce Ministry said U.S. and Chinese negotiators will meet in early October to resume negotiations to resolve a dispute that has weighed on global growth and fuel consumption.
The yearlong dispute has provided the most severe factor responsible for oil prices rising. China is one of the biggest consumers and importers of crude oil, and the tariff conflict has threatened to create a global slowdown, damaging demand for crude products.
As a result, the Brent Crude, the International oil benchmark as at 9 p.m (Nigerian Time) was trading at $60.79, showing an increase of $0.09 equivalent to 0.15 percent.
However for the U.S. benchmark, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Crude, was trading below $57 at $56.22 after dropping 0.07 percent as at the time period.
For the OPEC Basket, it was trading at $58.97 showing over 2 percent increase, equal to $1.16 rise.
Oil has also seen support by more positive sentiment across financial markets, other factors include Hong Kong’s leader which is set to stop the unrest in Asia’s key financial hub and British lawmakers move to block an imminent no-deal Brexit.
Nonetheless, continued uncertainty on the outlook for the global economy is preventing prices from climbing much higher.
Over the weekend, a new round of tariffs went into effect on goods from both countries. The U.S. implemented tariffs worth 15 percent on a host of goods from China, a decision that was met with countermeasures.
President Trump on Tuesday urged China to come to the negotiating table soon, or things could get “much tougher” for its economy in a Twitter post.
However, experts believe China could be prepared to play along as the trade war drags on.
Dipo Olowookere