Crude-oil futures on Thursday turned negative amid reports that a trade meeting between President Donald Trump and China President Xi Jinping may be delayed, if it happens at all, fueling fresh some worries about disruptions to demand driven by the protracted tariff dispute.
April West Texas Intermediate crude CLJ9, -0.05% gave up 20 cents, or 0.3%, to trade at $58.06 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a day after the prices for the front-month contract settled at a high not seen since mid-November, according to FactSet data.
May Brent crude LCOK9, +0.19% meanwhile, edged 4 cents, or less than 0.1%, higher to $67.59 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe, also holding near the highest level for the international benchmark in about four months.
Bloomberg News reported Thursday morning that a meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will be delayed until at least April, news that appeared to weigh on stock-index futures.
Robert Yawger, director of energy at Mizuho Securities U.S.A., said the news of the delayed meeting contributed to the oil-futures slump.
“That put the kibosh on the rally here,” he told MarketWatch.
However, Yawger said that they dynamic for oil remains supportive of higher prices and he wouldn’t surprised after a brisk run that the commodity experiences a slight pull back. “There are a lot of strong bullish elements here,” he said.
Despite Thursday’s slight retreat, contracts for crude have jumped 3.6% so far this week, while the international benchmark have gained 2.7% in the past four session.
Meanwhile, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, in a monthly report, said output by its members fell in February and left its demand growth forecast for 2019 unchanged.
On Wednesday, the Energy Information Administration reported that U.S. crude supplies fell by 3.9 million barrels for the week ended March 8. That ran counter to expectations for a climb of 3.3 million barrels expected by analysts polled by S&P Global Platts. The American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday had reported a 2.6 million barrel decline.
The EIA also reported that total domestic crude production inched down from record territory, down 100,000 barrels to 12 million barrels a day.
Supplies of gasoline dropped by 4.6 million barrels, while distillates edged up by 400,000 barrels last week, according to the EIA. The S&P Global Platts survey had shown expectations for supply declines of 3.5 million barrels for gasoline and 2.5 million barrels for distillates.
