Crude oil futures fell during the Asian trade session on Friday. Traders are starting to lose optimism over whether or not the United States and China will reach a trade accord anytime soon. The oil futures are on track for a weekly loss as price action is erratic.
As of 12:55 am GMT, the international benchmark, the Brent crude oil futures contract lost 0.3 percent or 17 cents to trade at $60.21 per barrel.
The Brent contract has been range bound most of this week. This contract is on track for its first weekly loss in five weeks.
The U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures contract, for front end delivery, fell 14 cents, or 0.3 percent, to trade at $54.95 per barrel.
The U.S. WTI futures contract has seen a similar trade week, with price action, and is on track for its first weekly loss in three weeks.
Crude Oil Traders Monitor Trade War Developments
Despite President Donald Trump saying he would agree to an interim trade deal with China and China buying a massive amount of soybeans from the United States, traders are not very optimistic that the two economic powerhouses will agree to a trade deal anytime soon.
Many economists feeling that the trade war will worsen by the end of the year. Some economists still feel that the U.S. economy could still fall into a recession within two years. This has dampened sentiment.
Also in the headlines, traders shrugged off a commitment from Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to further reduce output. OPEC feels that global demand will fall as the economy slows. OPEC also asked that over producers like Nigeria and Iraq to trim output as the cartel is trying to counter increasing U.S. production which is leading to a worsening global supply glut.