Oil rises as U.S., China swap concessions in trade war, inventories fall

TOKYO, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Oil prices jumped on Thursday,
bouncing back from heavy losses in the previous session, buoyed
by moves to ease trade tensions between Washington and Beijing
and a drop in U.S. crude inventories to the lowest in nearly a
year.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 rose 41 cents, or 0.7%, to
$61.22 by 0051 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI)
futures CLc1 gained 40 cents, or 0.7%, at $56.16.
The rise came after China moved to exempt some U.S.
anti-cancer drugs and other goods from tariffs, while President
Donald Trump announced a delay to scheduled tariff hikes on
billions of dollars' worth of Chinese goods.
The concessions came days ahead of a planned meeting aimed
at defusing the long-running trade row between the world's two
largest economies. Trump's move is "a significant goodwill gesture that he too
is willing to negotiate to put an end to this trade war spat,"
said Stephen Innes, Asia Pacific market strategist at
AxiTrader.
The price upswing on Thursday came after both of the
principal global benchmarks fell sharply in the previous
following a report that President Trump had weighed easing
sanctions on Iran, a move that would potentially boost global
crude supply at a time of rising concerns about oil demand.
Boosting the market's good mood, the U.S. Energy Information
Administration said on Wednesday that U.S. crude oil stockpiles
fell last week to the lowest in nearly a year, as refineries
raised output and imports fell. EIA/S
"Historical inventory patterns suggest that stocks should
begin to hit seasonal bottom sometime in the next two-three
weeks," AxiTrader's Innes said.
Crude inventories USOILC=ECI fell for a fourth straight
week, decreasing 6.9 million barrels in the week to Sept. 6 -
more than double analysts' expectations of a 2.7 million-barrel
drawdown.
At 416.1 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories were at
their lowest since October 2018, and about 2% below the
five-year average for this time of year, the EIA said.