Investing.com - Oil prices gained on Monday in Asia, supported by hopes that the U.S. and China might be able to resolve their trade disputes after both sides reported progress in the latest negotiations that ended in Beijing last week.
U.S. President Donald Trump said at a news conference over the weekend that the talks are “going extremely well,” and that Washington is closer than ever before to "having a real trade deal" with Beijing.
The President added that he would remove tariffs if the two sides could reach an agreement.
Chinese President Xi Jinping also sounded upbeat, saying the latest round of meetings “achieved important progress in another step,” according to China’s Xinhua News Agency.
Traders will wait to see if any more news materialises ahead of a March 1 deadline on new tariffs, as the two largest oil-consuming nations continue discussions in Washington this week.
Worries about energy demand could ease If the two sides could hammer out an agreement resolving their trade spat.
U.S. Crude Oil WTI Futures traded 0.6% higher to 56.31 by 1:16 AM ET (06:16 GMT).
International Brent Oil Futures gained 0.4% to 66.50.
After ending 2018 in freefall, oil prices have rallied approximately 23% to start the year, boosted by efforts by global producers to cut supply.
In December, OPEC and a group of 10 producers outside the cartel, led by Russia, agreed to collectively cut production by a total of 1.2 million barrels per day during the first six months of 2019.
Top exporter and OPEC's de-facto leader Saudi Arabia recently pledged to cut even more production than the deal called for.
Looking ahead, the American Petroleum Institute will publish its weekly update on U.S. oil supplies on Wednesday. The data comes out one day later than usual due to a holiday in the U.S. on Monday.