(Reuters) – Oil prices pulled ahead in early Asian hours on Friday after China said its door is open for talks with the United States, raising hopes of a de-escalation in a bitter trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
Brent crude futures rose 38 cents, or 0.6%, to $62.51 a barrel by 0136 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures added 38 cents, or 0.6%, to $59.62 a barrel.
China’s commerce ministry on Friday said the United States has recently taken steps to open a dialogue with Beijing by conveying information through relevant parties.
Concerns that the broader trade war could push the global economy into a recession and crimp oil demand, just as the OPEC+ group is preparing to raise output, have weighed heavily on oil prices in recent weeks.
However, the signals of a potential easing in trade tensions between the United State and China, the world’s biggest importer of crude oil, supported sentiment towards crude.
Oil prices were also underpinned by a threat from U.S. President Donald Trump to impose secondary sanctions on buyers of Iranian oil.
The threat raised fears of tighter crude oil supplies, ANZ bank analysts said in a note.
Trump’s comments followed a postponement of U.S. talks with Iran over its nuclear program. He had previously restored a “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran, which included efforts to drive the country’s oil exports to zero, to help prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon.
Oil prices had gained late in Thursday’s session to settle nearly 2% higher on Trump’s remarks, erasing some of the losses recorded earlier in the week on expectations of more OPEC+ supply coming to the market.
Reuters on Wednesday reported that Saudi Arabia, de facto leader of OPEC+, has briefed allies and industry experts that it is unwilling to prop up oil prices with further supply cuts.
Several OPEC+ members are set to suggest the group accelerates output hikes in June for a second consecutive month, Reuters earlier reported. Eight OPEC+ countries will meet on May 5 to decide a June output plan.
(Reporting by Shariq Khan in New York; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)
