Crude futures settled lower Friday as unease over the status of US-China trade talks dampened the mood at the end of a week that saw prices reach their highest level since September. ICE Brent January futures settled 58 cents lower day on day at $63.39/b, while the NYMEX January light sweet crude futures contract settled down 81 cents at $57.77/b. The weekly average settle for both front-month crude contracts was higher than in the week earlier. The ICE Brent futures average settle for the week that ended Friday rose 18 cents to $62.62/b, the highest in eight weeks. The front-month NYMEX light sweet crude futures contract close averaged 9 cents higher at $57.14/b, the prompt-month contract’s highest average in 10 weeks.
In refined products, the NYMEX front-month RBOB contract settled 3.01 cents lower Friday at $1.6743/gal while the front-month ULSD contract fell 1.53 cents to $1.9294/gal. The front-month RBOB contract average settle was $1.6519/gal for the week that ended Friday, compared with $1.6223/gal in the prior week, while the front-month ULSD contract weekly average dropped to $1.9057/gal from $1.9180/gal a week earlier.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said Friday the country wanted to conclude a phase one trade agreement with the US based on “mutual respect and equality,” telling an audience of international visitors the world’s second largest economy would “when necessary, fight back” in a trade war that he said had been initiated by the US and was unwanted by China. However, the US Chamber of Commerce said Friday afternoon the phase one deal might not be consummated prior to December 15, when the next round of tariffs on Chinese goods are scheduled to debut.
Edward Moya, a senior market analyst at OANDA, does not think US President Donald Trump will go ahead with the December 15 tariffs if the phase one deal is not sealed