Oil prices rose Monday after confirmation that U.S. President Donald Trump will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping later this month, easing renewed trade tensions that last week pushed crude to five-month lows. Brent crude gained $0.59 (+0.9%) to $63.32, while WTI rose $0.59 (+1.0%) to $59.49. Both benchmarks had plunged about 4% Friday after Trump threatened to cancel the meeting and raise tariffs on Chinese goods.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the summit remains scheduled for late October in South Korea, noting “substantial communications” between both sides over the weekend.
“We have substantially de-escalated,” Bessent told Fox Business Network.
DBS analyst Suvro Sarkar said markets were now “capped by Washington and Beijing’s willingness to negotiate,” with sentiment hinging on the trade outcome.
China’s September crude imports rose 3.9% year-on-year to 11.5 million bpd, providing some demand support. OPEC, meanwhile, kept its 2025–26 oil demand growth forecast unchanged, but warned that output increases within OPEC+ could narrow next year’s supply deficit.
Geopolitical developments limited upside. Under a U.S.-brokered ceasefire, Hamas freed the final 20 Israeli hostages, prompting Trump to declare a “historic dawn of a new Middle East.” PVM analysts, however, said traders were waiting for proof the truce would hold:
“The market has been skeptical by voting with price … it will wait for a ceasefire that lasts more than a few days.”