Investing.com - Oil prices rose on Friday, looking past the increase in U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods during a volatile week for crude.
New York-traded West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 33 cents, or 0.5%, at $62.03 a barrel by 7:33 AM ET (11:33 GMT), while Brent crude futures, the benchmark for oil prices outside the U.S., traded up 56 cents, or 0.8%, to $70.95.
U.S. crude has seen a volatile week as investors weighed the chances of the U.S. and China reaching a trade deal and avoiding escalating tariffs that could damage the global economy and demand for oil.
Those hopes were not completely dashed on Friday even as the increase in U.S. tariffs to 25% from 10% on $200 billion in Chinese goods went into effect and Beijing promised to retaliate.
The fact that Chinese Vice Premier Liu He remained in Washington for another day of trade negotiations was thought to be a positive sign.
Adding to those hopes, the U.S. refrained from implementation of the higher tariffs on Chinese goods in transit, perhaps providing a window of opportunity for top trade negotiators to reach an understanding in the following weeks.
Signs of tightening supply - ranging from unexpected disruptions in Russia and Nigeria to the continued impact of U.S. sanctions on Iran and Venezuela - have also supported oil bulls, all while uncertainty remains as to just how far Saudi Arabia will go to replace “missing” Iranian oil.
All things considered, the barrel of West Texas Intermediate oil is currently on track to eke out slight weekly gains of 0.4%, while Brent is flat on the week.
Investing.com senior commodity analyst Barani Krishnan took the opportunity on Friday to remind investors of U.S. President Donald Trump’s desire to keep prices low at the pump in the run-up to 2020 presidential campaign.
Krishnan suggested that the coming months may see more price battles between Trump and the Saudis.
“(Trump’s) quest for low gasoline prices continues to make him a dangerous wild card to oil bulls and OPEC,” Krishnan said.
In other energy trading, gasoline futures rose 1.1% at $1.9961 a gallon by 7:38 AM ET (11:38 GMT), while heating oil advanced 0.7% at $2.0584 a gallon.
Lastly, natural gas futures fell to 0.3% at $2.588 per million British thermal unit.