Oil Prices Drop Before the G-20 Summit, OPEC to Hold a Meet

Oil prices eased this Friday as traders awaited an update on the Sino-U.S. trade war from a scheduled weekend assembly of the two countries’ presidents on the G20, and eyed next week’s OPEC gathering.

Brent crude futures were down by 35 cents, or 0.5%, at $66.20 per barrel by 0644 GMT.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down by 30 cents, at $59.13 a barrel.

The leaders of the G20 countries meet on the weekend in Osaka, Japan, however probably the most anticipated meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday.

A trade war between the world’s two largest economies has weighed on oil prices, fanning concerns that slowing economic growth could sink demand for the commodity.

Trump stated on Wednesday a trade deal with Chinese President Xi was possible this weekend however he’s prepared to impose U.S. tariffs on most remaining Chinese imports ought to the two countries disagree.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and a few non-members together with Russia, known as OPEC+, will hold meetings in Vienna on July 1 and 2, to determine whether or not to increase their supply cuts.

From Jan 1OPEC+ members agreed to curb oil output by 1.2 million barrels per day.

Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned in an interview on Thursday that the OPEC-led supply cut helped stabilize oil markets – the future of the output deal was anticipated to be on the agenda on the G20 summit.

A week after U.S. President Donald Trump called off air strikes on Iran at the last minute, the prospect that Tehran could soon violate its nuclear pledges has created the further diplomatic need to find a way out of the crisis.