Oil prices increased on Sunday, driven by hopes for a more coronavirus-related economic stimulus in the US and data suggesting that Chinese factories were returning to pre-pandemic levels. The prices also received support from Donald Trump’s tweet saying that top congressional Democrats wanted to meet with him to discuss the coronavirus-related economic relief.
An increase in global oil prices slowed down China’s factory deflation last month. At the same time China’s industrial activity inched toward pre-coronavirus levels, signalling an improvement in energy demand. Iraq, OPEC’s second-largest producer, on Friday said it would reduce its crude production by an additional 400,000 bpd this and next month to compensate for its overproduction in May to July.
The international benchmark Brent crude LCOc1 gained 59 cents (1.3%) to $44.99/barrel, while US WTI crude CLc1 rose 72 cents (1.8%) to $41.94/barrel.
