KONTAN.CO.ID - JAKARTA. Oil prices rose on Thursday, buoyed by a potential breakthrough in the Sino-U.S. trade war and OPEC-led efforts to constrain supply, although trading was quiet as many markets were in holiday mode. Brent crude was up 28 cents, or 0.4%, at $67.48 a barrel by 0651 GMT. West Texas Intermediate was up 25 cents, also a 0.4% gain, at $61.36 a barrel.
"Oil prices continue to show year-end strength supported by a combination of definitive progress on the U.S.-China trade deal, the Dec OPEC/OPEC+ agreement, and slowing shale activity," said Stephen Innes, chief Asia market strategist at AxiTrader. "All of which is pointing to a stronger performance for oil prices in Q1 than anyone had thought only two months ago." U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he and Chinese President Xi Jinping will have a signing ceremony for the so-called Phase 1 agreement to end their trade dispute that was put together earlier this month. The roughly 17-month trade war hit global economic growth and demand for oil, leaving prices range-bound for the most of the year. Read Also: BOJ Kuroda sys ready to ease without hesitation if inflation target threatened