CRUDE OIL NEARS 3-MONTH HIGH ON OUTAGE AT SAUDI OILFIELD

SINGAPORE: Oil traded near the highest level since November on optimism the US and China can reach a trade deal and as an outage at the world’s largest offshore field in Saudi Arabia signalled tightening supply.

Futures in New York edged higher after advancing 5.4% last week. US President Donald Trump said talks with China were “very productive” as his team returned from Beijing and readied for another round of discussions in Washington this week, raising hopes that a trade war between the world’s largest economies will ease. The Saudis, meanwhile, were said to be repairing a damaged power cable that’s curbed output at the Safaniyah field.

Crude’s surged about 23% this year as Saudi Arabia and Russia pledged to expand their output cuts, easing concerns that record US production would result in a global glut. More supply is being threatened because of American sanctions against Venezuela and Iran. Reports that the US and China had reached consensus in principle on the main topics in their negotiations further helped boost investors’ risk appetite.

West Texas Intermediate for March delivery rose as much as 54 cents to $56.13 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.