2020.01.1609:34:00UTC+00Oil Prices Rise After EIA Report, Sino-US Deal

Oil prices rose on Thursday after the United States and China signed a partial trade deal and data showed a drop in crude stockpiles last week.

Benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.6 percent to $64.38 a barrel, while U.S. crude futures were up 0.3 percent at $57.98 a barrel.

The prospect of no further escalation in the economically damaging trade war helped improve investor sentiment somewhat as the U.S. and China finally signed the long-awaited "Phase One" trade deal, with tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars in imports still in place.

The phase one trade deal calls for China to purchase $200 billion worth of U.S. goods over the next two years, including up to $50 billion worth of agricultural products.

In exchange, the U.S. will scrap a new round of tariffs and cut tariffs on approximately $120 billion worth of Chinese goods in half to 7.5 percent.

Trump noted a 25 percent tariff on $250 billion worth of Chinese imports will remain in place in order to give the U.S. leverage as the two countries enter into phase two negotiations.

Meanwhile, according to the data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), crude stockpiles in the U.S. fell by 2.55 million barrels in the week ended Jan. 10, substantially higher than an expected drop of about 474,000 barrels.

A report from OPEC said the group expects lower demand for its oil this year despite an increase in global oil demand, as other producers are grabbing market share and the U.S. continuing to increase crude output to record levels.