Oil prices moved little in Asian trade on Tuesday with focus squarely on upcoming U.S.-Russia talks that could herald an end to the Ukraine war while also offering some relief to major importers such as India and China.
Oil took some support from optimism over the U.S. and China extending their trade truce by 90 days, quashing concerns over a revival in their bitter trade dispute. But caution over upcoming U.S. inflation data kept gains limited.
Brent oil futures for October rose 0.2% to $66.74 a barrel by 21:52 ET (01:52 GMT), while West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 0.2% to $63.21 a barrel.
Oil takes some support from US-China trade truce extension Oil clocked some gains as both the U.S. and China agreed to extend their May-June trade truce by another 90 days, entailing lower tariff levels between the two.
A temporary trade agreement between Washington and Beijing was set to expire on Tuesday, which could have seen both countries raise their respective tariffs back to levels above 100% seen earlier this year.
But U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese officials expressed optimism over trade ties between the two countries, raising confidence that the two will reach a more permanent trade deal.
Still, Trump’s tariffs remained a point of contention for oil markets, as the levies became effective from last week. Markets were watching for whether the duties will disrupt global economic activity and hurt oil demand. US-Russia talks over Ukraine in focus Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are set to meet in Alaska on Friday to discuss an end to the war in Ukraine.
The meeting comes after Trump threatened even tougher restrictions on Russia’s oil industry, threatening steep trade tariffs on India and China, which are Moscow’s biggest oil buyers.
Trump outlined tariffs of as high as 50% against India, and threatened China with a similar move. Global oil supplies could be crimped by India and China seeking alternative sources, although concerns over such a scenario eased ahead of Friday’s meeting.
Ukraine has signaled that it will reject any deal that requires it to give up territory to Russia. But a deescalation in the conflict stands to free up Russia’s oil shipments, in turn increasing global supplies.
Before Friday’s meeting, however, oil markets will have to contend with upcoming U.S. consumer price index inflation data. The print is due on Tuesday and is expected to provide more cues on the world’s biggest fuel consumer.
