Crude oil futures edged lower during mid-morning trade in Asia Friday, ahead of the G20 summit and OPEC meeting, with market participants particularly awaiting the outcome of the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the summit in Osaka on Saturday.
At 11:02 am Singapore time (0302 GMT), ICE Brent August futures were down 40 cents/b (0.60%) from Thursday’s settle at $66.15/b, while the front-month NYMEX August light sweet crude futures contract was 35 cents/b (0.59%) lower at $59.08/b.
“Some positive rhetoric stemming from the G20 congregation on US-Iran tensions can be seen cutting some slack for market jitters, sending crude prices … lower,” IG market strategist Pan Jingyi said. “All eyes are on the G20 summit in Japan, as US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet for the first time in seven months to discuss trade between the world’s two largest economies,” UOB analysts said in a note Friday.
“Markets should start to expect Trump to offer some concessions regarding Huawei and to delay the next round of tariffs on an additional $300 billion worth of Chinese imports,” Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA, said.
“In return, Trump is expecting Beijing to show some purchases, structural changes, changes in IP law and market access,” Moya added. The summit will be the last chance for Saudi Arabia and Russia to negotiate before the OPEC/non-OPEC production cuts expire Saturday. The producers meet Monday and Tuesday in Vienna to decide whether to extend the 1.2 million b/d cuts through the end of the year.
Trump may press Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman on efforts to keep oil production stable amid increasing Middle East tensions, S&P Global Platts had reported.