UPDATE 8-Oil climbs 3% on hopes U.S.-China trade talks resume, Mideast tension

* Trump says U.S., Chinese teams to restart trade talks
* U.S. to send more troops to the Middle East amid Iran
threats
* Russia says too early to decide on future of global oil
deal
* Coming Up: API's weekly U.S. oil data t 4:30 p.m. (2030
GMT)

(Updates prices, market activity)
By Stephanie Kelly
NEW YORK, June 18 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose more than $1 a
barrel on Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump said he
would hold an extensive meeting with Chinese President Xi
Jinping at the G20 summit later this month.
Tensions in the Middle East after last week's tanker
attacks, with the U.S. planning to send more troops to the
Middle East, also lent support.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 futures rose
$1.75, or 3.4%, to $53.68 a barrel by 11:11 a.m. EDT (1511 GMT).
Brent crude futures LCOc1 rose $1.07, or 1.8%, to $62.01 a
barrel.
"Had a very good telephone conversation with President Xi of
China. We will be having an extended meeting next week at the
G-20 in Japan. Our respective teams will begin talks prior to
our meeting," Trump tweeted.
The Chinese side has not confirmed a meeting would take
place. Chinese state media said Xi agreed to the meeting and
emphasized in the call that economic and trade disputes should
be solved through dialogue.
"Right now, this is a rumor-driven market," said Gene
McGillian, vice president of market research at Tradition
Energy. "There's the expectation that if you are able to reach a
trade resolution, it would help global economic growth and
therefore oil demand."
Fears of a confrontation between Iran and the United States
have mounted since last Thursday's oil tanker attacks, which
Washington has blamed on Tehran. Iran has denied
involvement. Trump said he was prepared to take military action to stop
Tehran having a nuclear bomb but left open whether he would
sanction the use of force to protect Gulf oil
supplies. Iran on Monday said it would breach internationally agreed
curbs on its stock of low-enriched uranium within 10 days,
adding that European nations still had time to save a landmark
nuclear deal. Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan announced on
Monday the deployment of about 1,000 more troops to the Middle
East for what he said were defensive purposes, citing concerns
about a threat from Iran. Market participants are also awaiting a meeting between the
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other
producers including Russia, a group known as OPEC+, to decide
whether to extend a supply reduction pact that ends this month.
OPEC and non-OPEC states are discussing holding meetings on
July 10-12 in Vienna, a date range proposed by Iran, OPEC
sources said on Tuesday. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Tuesday it
was too early to make any decisions about the future of the
agreement because of market uncertainties.
Oil prices have fallen by more than 15% from April's 2019
highs, partly because of concerns over the U.S.-China trade war
and disappointing economic data.
High U.S. crude stockpiles, partly due to growing domestic
production, has also weighed on the market. Commercial stocks
were at their highest since July 2017 and about 8% above the
five-year average for this time of year, according to government
data last week. After two consecutive weeks of unexpected builds, U.S. crude
stocks were forecast to have dropped by 2 million barrels last
week, according to analysts polled by Reuters. Industry data is
due at 4:30 p.m., followed by official estimates on Wednesday.
EIA/S

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
GRAPHIC: New York Fed Empire business survey png https://tmsnrt.rs/2XOP9Mc
TECHNICALS-Brent oil biased to fall to $59.78 Russian, Saudi crude oil production png https://tmsnrt.rs/2QYNGAd
TECHNICALS-U.S. oil biased to fall towards $50.79
L4N23P0XB
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>