Investing.com - Oil prices bounced back on Wednesday in Asia, a day after hitting their lowest point in 2018 after U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. remains a “steadfast partner” with Saudi Arabia despite the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump released a statement in which he signalled that his administration would not take strong action against Saudi Arabia for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
“In any case, our relationship is with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia…After the US, Saudi Arabia is the largest oil producing nation in the world. They have worked closely with us and have been very responsive to my requests to keeping oil prices at reasonable levels – so important for the world,” Trump said in the statement.
Reports cited Trump as saying outside the White House on the same day, “If we broke with them [Saudi], I think your oil prices would go through the roof.”
Members of OPEC+, a group of 24 producers, are set to meet on Dec. 6 in Vienna, Austria, to reach an output decision for the next six months.
“We are entering an unprecedented period of uncertainty in oil markets,” Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency said during a press conference on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, a surprise drop in U.S. crude inventories was cited as supportive for oil prices on Wednesday, although markets remained wary of excessive supply and an uncertain outlook.
The American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday showed U.S. crude inventories fell by 1.5 million barrels to 439.2 million barrels as of Nov. 16.
Crude Oil WTI Futures for January delivery rose 1.24% to $54.09 a barrel at 12:42 AM ET (05:42 GMT) on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent Oil Futures for January delivery also climbed 1.25% to $63.23 per barrel on London’s Intercontinental Exchange.
During the previous session, Brent oil fell 7.6% to $61.71, hitting the lowest point in more than 11 months. WTI crude plummeted 7% to $52.77 a barrel on Tuesday, a low point not seen since October 2017.