Oil slides as dollar heads for eighth daily profit in row

Oil futures fell nearly one percent in Asian trade as the dollar index scaled January 3 highs, in a day that lacks major data releases from the US, the world's largest energy consumer and producer, and ahead of US-China trade talks. 

As of 04:12 GMT, US crude futures due in March slid 1.20% to $52.07 a barrel, while Brent March futures dropped 0.74% to $61.61 a barrel, as the dollar index inched up 0.06% to 96.70, heading for the longest daily winning streak since November 2016. 

Now investors await the third round of US-China trade talks, with US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin and other officials heading to Beijing later this week to resume negotiations. 

US President Donald Trump recently said he doesn't intend to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping before the early March deadline for their truce, rousing concerns in the markets about returning tariffs if no deal was reached in time. 

Otherwise, Russian energy minister Alexander Novak said discussions of permanent cooperation with OPEC could take place at the April meeting, with both sides currently committed to cut output by 1.2 million bpd for the first half of this year. 

US Oil Rigs 

Baker Hughes, a US oil services company, reported an increase of 7 in the rig count to a total of 854 rigs in the week ending February 7, away from ten-month lows. 

Last month, the Energy Information Administration forecast an increase in shale oil output to another record 8.179 million bpd, however the drop in rig activities might taper these expectations.