Oil prices dip as Mideast tensions ease; market eyes trade deal

* U.S.-China trade deal to be signed Wednesday at White
House
* U.S. crude oil inventories likely fell last week - poll
* Coming up: API inventory data at 2130 GMT

By Jessica Jaganathan
SINGAPORE, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Oil prices edged lower on
Tuesday as receding Middle East tensions took some heat out of
the market, with both Tehran and Washington desisting from any
further escalation after this month's clashes.
However, the declines were limited by expectations of a
drawdown in U.S. crude oil inventories and optimism about the
signing of a preliminary trade deal between the U.S. and China,
the world's top oil consumers.
Brent crude LCOc1 was down 8 cents, or 0.1%, at $64.12 per
barrel by 0124 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures
CLc1 were down 4 cents, or 0.1%, at $58.04 a barrel.
U.S. crude oil inventories were expected to have fallen last
week, while stocks of refined products likely continued to rise,
with gasoline stockpiles seen gaining for a tenth straight week,
a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Monday. Four analysts polled by Reuters estimated, on average, that
crude stocks declined by about 800,000 barrels in the week to
Jan. 10.
The poll was conducted ahead of reports from the American
Petroleum Institute (API), an industry group, and the Energy
Information Administration (EIA), an agency of the U.S.
Department of Energy.
The API is scheduled to release its data for the latest week
at 2130 GMT on Tuesday, and the weekly EIA report is due on
Wednesday.
Oil prices were supported ahead of the signing at the White
House on Wednesday of a Phase 1 trade deal, which marks a major
step in ending a dispute that has cut global growth and dented
demand for oil.
Elsewhere, Saudi Arabia's energy minister Prince Abdulaziz
bin Salman said his country will work for oil market stability
at a time of heightened U.S.-Iranian tension and wants to see
sustainable prices and demand growth. Oil prices surged to their highest in almost four months
after a U.S. drone strike killed an Iranian commander on Jan. 3
and Iran retaliated with missiles launched against U.S. bases in
Iraq. But they slumped again as Washington and Tehran retreated
from the brink of direct conflict last week.
Prince Abdulaziz said it was too early to talk about whether
the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and
its allies, a group known as OPEC+, would continue with
production curbs set to expire in March.
The OPEC+ group of oil-producing countries last month agreed
to rein in output by an extra 500,000 bpd in the first quarter
of 2020, on top of a previously agreed reduction of 1.2 million
bpd.