Oil prices changed little, cautious mood ahead of US-China trade talks By Reuters

By Florence Tan

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil prices were mixed on Monday with traders raising cautious hopes of a rebound from last week's loss on progress talks to end The US-China trade war, on the back of a global economic downturn that is weighing on future oil demand.

Brent crude futures () settled down 1[ads1] cent to $ 58.36 a barrel by 0656 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil () stood at $ 52.85, up 4 cents.

Both contracts were finalized last week with a more than 5% decline following dismal US and China production data, as the prolonged ranks between the world's top economies hurt global growth and increased the risk of recession.

US and Chinese authorities will meet in Washington 10-11. October in the next, eagerly awaited effort to reach a deal.

On the supply side, a faster-than-expected resumption of Saudi Arabia's output following a September 14 attack on major production facilities also exerted downward pressure on oil prices, although the Middle East remained tense.

"Macro winds outweigh oil supply problems now, despite tensions in the Middle East and a reduced reserve capacity cushion," said Stephen Innes, Asia Pacific market strategist at AxiCorp.

In Iraq, the second-largest producer among the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), fatal injustice against the government poses the greatest security and political challenge so far as Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi's year-old government.

Iraqi oil exports of 3.43 million barrels per day (bpd) from Basra terminals could be disrupted if instability lasts for several weeks, Ayham Kamel, Eurasia Group's practice leader for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a note.

"Any disruption in oil production will occur at a time when Saudi Arabia has lost a significant portion of its energy system layoffs (available capacity)," he said. [19659004] While Saudi oil production is now close to 9.9 million bpd, it is not clear that capacity is fully operational at 11.3 million bd, and (attacked) the Abqaiq plant has lost a significant portion of its redundancy. "

Global supply is also facing repair and maintenance pressure for the plant.

Buzzard oil field in the British North Sea is closed for pipe repair work, a China CNOOC spokesman said Friday. Buzzard is the main contributor to Forties & # 39; , the largest of the five North Sea oil grades that support Brent crude oil futures.

Meanwhile, Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) on Sunday said it will close the Faregh oil field at Zueitina port for scheduled maintenance from Monday to October 14.

The current Brent price is about 23% down from the 2019 peak of the $ 75.60 barrel recorded in April.

It is still too early for OPEC to discuss deeper cuts in oil production despite the decline in oil prices, Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo quoted by the Russian news agency TASS on Monday.