Investing.com - Oil prices were mixed on Wednesday morning in Asia as U.S. crude stocks climbed and markets shrugged off escalating trade tensions.
Crude Oil WTI Futures for November delivery rose 0.04% to $69.92 a barrel at 10:34PM ET (02:34 GMT), while Brent Oil Futures for November delivery slipped 0.01% to $79.02 per barrel.
Data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) showed on Tuesday that U.S. crude stocks hiked by 1.2 million barrels to 397.1 million in the week to Sept. 14, opposed to market expectations of a drop of 2.7 million barrels.
“The U.S. crude build temporarily grabbed trader attention. Increasing fuel stocks in the U.S. and strong crude runs could lead to a bigger premium for Brent versus WTI,” said Chen Kai, head of commodities research at Shengda Futures.
Meanwhile, the latest trade dispute between Washington and Beijing escalated as U.S. President Donald Trump announced 10% tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese products on Monday, which is scheduled to take effect on Sep. 24. China retaliated by adding $60 billion of U.S. goods to its import tariff list on Tuesday.
The growing trade jitters sent worries to the oil market.
Ministers from OPEC nations and non-OPEC oil producers are due to meet on the coming Sunday to talk about output policies. OPEC sources told Reuters that no imminent action was planned and the members will discuss how to share an output increase.
Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that Saudi Arabia is currently comfortable with the oil prices over $80 per barrel in the short term.
On the supply side, Mexico’s incoming government, which will take office in December, started reviewing oil contracts as promised. The President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador campaigned to review all oil contracts for signs of corruption.
His administration started reviewing a major oil project by a consortium led by U.S.-based Talos Energy.
Russia’s St. Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange has started crude oil trading with loading at Crimea which Moscow annexed in 2014, triggering international sanctions. The exchange has not revealed the sellers.