An offshore oil rig off the coast of Norway.
Nerijus Adomaitis | Reuters
Oil prices inched higher on Thursday, kept in check by worries about whether the G-20 summit will produce a breakthrough on trade that could boost crude demand.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 5 cents, or 0.1%, to settle at $59.43 a barrel. Brent crude futures were last seen down 14 cents, or 0.2%, at $66.35.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday a trade deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping was possible this weekend but he is prepared to impose U.S. tariffs on most remaining Chinese imports if the two countries don’t agree.
“It’s all about the G20,” said Craig Erlam, analyst at OANDA. “It’s clear that investors are a little cautious when it comes to this meeting, given how talks collapsed previously and the fighting talk we’ve since seen from both sides.”
On Wednesday, oil jumped more than 2% after the latest U.S. petroleum supply report showed a larger-than-expected drop in crude stocks….
