Oil rises near month highs as market awaits G20 summit and OPEC meeting

Global oil prices rose as the US market opened on Friday to come close to touching the highest level in the month, supported by a slowdown in US supply levels, while gains remain limited as traders await the outcome of the G20 summit in Japan today, in addition to OPEC's meeting next week.

By 12:30 GMT, US crude rose to $59.55 per barrel from the opening level of $59.20, recording a high of $59.63 and a low of $59.02.

Brent crude rose to $66.70 per barrel from the opening level $66.40, and recorded a high of $66.78, and the lowest at $66.06.

US crude settled at yesterday's session flat, after hitting a one-month high of $59.90 per barrel in the previous day, as Brent also settled near the $66.84 level which is the highest since May 30.

The US Energy Information Administration announced on Wednesday that the country's oil inventories fell by 12.8 million barrels in the week ending June 21, the second consecutive weekly decline, the biggest weekly drop since September 2016, exceeding experts' expectations of a decline of 2.7 million barrels.

According to the official data, the total US commercial inventories fell to 469.9 million barrels, the lowest level since the week ending May 3, in a strong sign of improved demand in the world's top oil consumer.

As for the US oil production, it fell by about 100 thousand barrels per day during last week, the third weekly decline in a row, bringing the total to 12.1 million barrels per day, away from the record level of 12.4 million barrels per day.

The G20 summit of world leaders started today in Osaka, Japan, to discuss how to avoid a global economic slowdown and to resolve the global trade disputes, especially between the United States and China.

A separate meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping is set to take place on Saturday, as everyone hopes the meeting will bring a breakthrough in trade talks to end the trade war between the world's two largest economies.

Donald Trump said on Wednesday a trade deal could be reached when he meet the Chinese president, adding that he is ready to impose tariffs on more Chinese imports if the two countries did not reach an agreement.

On the other hand, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the non-member allies producers, led by Russia, known as OPEC Plus, will meet on July 1st and 2nd in Vienna to decide on the extension of the agreement to reduce the global supply.

The international alliance is implementing an agreement to cut production by about 1.2 million barrels a day from January 1 to June 30, and most forecasts suggest that the agreement will be extended by another six months until the end of this year.