Investing.com – Crude oil prices surged on Friday, as trade talks between the U.S. and China ended and upcoming sanctions against Iran weighed.
West Texas rose 1.93% to $69.14 a barrel as of 10:58 AM ET (14:58 GMT). Meanwhile, futures, the benchmark for oil prices outside the U.S., increased 1.95% to $76.19.
The U.S. and China moved ahead with 25% tariffs on $16 billion worth of goods, as trade talks between the two ended with no agreement. The two biggest economies in the world have been in a tit-for-tat trade war for months.
“We concluded two days of discussions with counterparts from China and exchanged views on how to achieve fairness, balance, and reciprocity in the economic relationship,” White House Spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said in a brief statement.
On Friday, China said that it would not be swayed by U.S. strongarm tactics on trade.
Oil prices have been driven higher in the past few months as demand for oil outsrips supply and upcoming U.S. sanctions against Iran have also supported prices. The financial sanctions against Iran will target the petroleum sector of Iran in November, when a drop of crude supply is expected.
Investors are also looking ahead to the weekly oil rig count from Baker Hughes this afternoon, which is a leading indicator of demand for oil products.
In other energy trading, rose 0.92% at $2.0800 a gallon, while was up 1.71% to $2.2126 a gallon. fell 0.94% to $2.936 per million British thermal units.
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Source: Investing.com
