Oil prices rose on Thursday, supported by a drop in US crude inventories and signs of a slump in the US-China trade war, the world's two biggest economies and the world's biggest oil consumer.
Crude oil prices also receive support from OPEC-led output cuts, announced last week, although gains were limited after OPEC cut its forecast for oil demand for 2019.
Brent crude futures were $ 60.36 a barrel, up 21 cents, or 0.4 percent, from the previous close.
West Texas Intermediate crude futures were $ 51.25 a barrel, up 10 cents, or 0.2 percent.
In an indication of China's desire to reduce trade tensions with the United States, Beijing made its first major US soybeans purchase in more than six months on Wednesday, helping investors breathe a sigh of relief and push stock markets generally higher and oil prices higher.
US oil inventories fell 1.2 million barrels in the week ending Dec. 7, compared to expectations of a 3 million barrel decline.
OPEC said demand for its crude oil in 2019 would fall to 31.44 million barrels per day (bpd), less than 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) from its forecast last month, a 1.53 million bpd drop from the current level.
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