Oil Prices Near Flat as Markets Await Weekly Inventories Data

Tuesday,   05-Nov-2019   01:46 PM (IST)

Oil prices were near flat on Tuesday in Asia as traders await this week’s crude stockpile data. U.S. Crude Oil WTI Futures last traded at $56.52 by 12:10 AM ET (04:10 GMT), down 0.04%. International Brent Oil Futures inched up 0.1% to $62.16. Weekly US crude inventory data due for release in coming days is expected to show a further 2.7 million-barrel build for the week ending October 25. Meanwhile, Iran oil minister Bijan Zanganeh was quoted by the Iranian Students' News Agency as saying that OPEC could further slash production from the current 1.2 million barrel per day at its next meeting on December 5. Although not a directional driver today, hopes for a trade deal revived after Washington and Beijing said late last week that they had made progress towards resolving their protracted trade war, with U.S. officials indicating that a partial deal could be signed this month. Citing people familiar with the plans, Bloomberg reported that Chinese government officials are considering locations in the U.S. where leader Xi Jinping would meet U.S. President Donald Trump to sign the deal.