Summary
- China confirms Xi, Trump meeting
- US crude stocks fell last week, market sources citing API
- OPEC+ considering modest output increase in December
(Reuters) – Oil prices steadied on Wednesday as investors weighed optimism over a meeting between the leaders of top consumers the U.S. and China against an expected increase in production quotas from the next OPEC+ meeting.
Brent crude futures were up 11 cents, or 0.2%, to $64.51 a barrel at 1020 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 6 cents, or 0.1%, to $60.21.
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China’s foreign ministry said Chinese President Xi Jinping would meet U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday in the South Korean city of Busan.
It said the meeting would “inject new momentum into the development of U.S.-China relations”, adding that Beijing was ready to work together for “positive outcomes”.
China also said that it was open to continuing cooperation with the U.S. on fentanyl after Trump said he expected to reduce tariffs on Chinese goods in exchange for Beijing’s commitment to curb exports of precursor chemicals.
Also supporting prices was an expected fall in U.S. crude and fuel inventories last week.
Crude stocks fell by 4.02 million barrels for the week ended October 24, market sources said, citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday.
Gasoline inventories dropped by 6.35 million barrels, while distillate inventories fell by 4.36 million barrels from a week earlier, the sources said.
“The API report showing large draws for crude and refined products last week in the U.S. is giving some modest support to prices,” UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said.
Brent and WTI last week registered their biggest weekly gains since June after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed Ukraine-related sanctions on Russia for the first time in his second term, targeting major oil companies Lukoil and Rosneft.
Still, doubts that sanctions would offset oversupply and talk of an OPEC+ output increase pressured prices; both benchmarks fell 1.9%, or more than $1, in the previous session.
OPEC+, the world’s largest group of oil-producing nations, is leaning towards a modest output boost in December, four sources familiar with the talks said, with two sources citing an additional 137,000 barrels per day.
On Tuesday, the CEO of Saudi state oil giant Aramco said crude oil demand was strong even before sanctions were imposed on Russian oil majors and Chinese demand was still healthy.
(Reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar Additional reporting by Sam Li Editing by Alexander Smith
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