Crude
oil prices retreated after hitting a record high, as concerns surrounding the
continued rise in oil supplies overshadowed optimism regarding potential trade
agreement between the United States and China.
As
of 13:10 GMT, Crude oil WTI futures erased all its earlier gains to trade lower
at $57.35 after touching a seven-week high of $58.07. Brent crude futures also
fell from a top of $63.56 to hover lower around $62.84.
The
White House economic adviser said last Friday that Washington and Beijing were
approaching a trade deal and that the situation between them was very good,
which led to a rise in oil futures by about 2% on Friday.
The
United States and China were able to have positive talks about the partial
trade deal last weekend.
China's
vice president Liu He held telephone talks on the first phase of the trade deal
with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative
Robert lighthizer on Saturday morning, Xinhua reported Sunday.
During
the talks between the two sides, they held constructive discussions on each
other's fundamental concerns in the first phase of the deal, the agency said.
However,
the agency gave no further details about the high-level phone call between the
two sides.
Investors
are still waiting to determine when and where the first phase of the trade
deal, which was reached at the beginning of last month, will be signed by the
presidents of the two countries.
On
the supply side, OPEC predicted last week that demand for its oil would decline
in 2020, supporting the view held by market traders that OPEC and other
producers, including Russia, under the so-called OPEC+, will maintain
production restrictions to address supply surplus.
It
is worth mentioning that OPEC and its allies are expected to discuss production
policy at a December 5-6 meeting in Vienna.
The dollar index,
which tracks the green currency’s movements versus a basket of major
currencies, slipped for a third straight session to hit a low at 97.72, the
lowest since November 7.