Oil falls due to caution over U.S-China trade deal
Oil prices fell more than 2% on Monday as scant details about the first phase of a trade deal between the United States and China undercut optimism over a U.S-Sino thaw that had helped lift crude markets by 2% at the end of last week.
Late on Friday, the United States and China outlined the first stage of a trade deal and suspended this week’s scheduled U.S. tariff hikes. But existing tariffs remain in place and officials on both sides said much more work was needed before an accord could be agreed.
There are also worries that further escalation along the Syrian and Turkish border could affect output or exports from Iraq, providing more support for oil prices.
The Saudi energy minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, said oil exporters taking part in a global output deal between OPEC and its allies, a grouping known as OPEC+, were showing serious commitment to the cuts. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said there were no talks underway to change the OPEC+ deal.