Oil settles near three-month highs as dollar falls off two-month highs

Oil futures tilted higher in Asian trade with US crude scaling November 20 highs while Brent settled near similar highs ahead of the Federal Reserve's meeting minutes. 

As of 04:17 GMT, US crude futures due in March rose 0.86% to $56.57 a barrel, while Brent April futures rose 0.32% to $66.49 a barrel. 

President Trump said he'd be happy to cancel tariffs if a deal is reached with China, adding his administration is nearer that goal than ever. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping also said the talks will carry on in Washington this week, hoping for an agreement soon before the truce deadline in early March. 

However markets still don't see noticeable results despite the positive remarks, spreading doubts. 

Now investors await the Federal Reserve's meeting minutes for the January 29-30 meeting, at which policymakers voted to hold rates unchanged below 2.50%. 

US Oil Rigs 

Baker Hughes reported an increase of 3 rigs last week to 857 rigs in the week ending February 15 away from ten-month lows as output steadied at a record 11.9 million bpd. 

The Energy Information Administration expects US shale output to rise even further in March. 

The EIA forecasts shale production to rise by 84 thousand bpd to 8.398 million bpd in March.