CRUDE futures soared midweek on the back of a sharp draw in US weekly inventories and signals from Saudi Arabia of continued output restraint, despite a plea from US President Donald Trump for moderate prices. The market had come under heavy selling pressure on Monday after a tweet from Trump urging oil producers to relax their efforts to boost prices. Oil has rallied about 25% so far this year, fuelled by production cuts from Opec and other producers, led by Russia, designed to mop up excess global supplies. Trump, keen to cushion US consumers from high prices, has repeatedly urged Opec linchpin Saudi Arabia to use its weight to ease the rally. Trump tweeted earlier this week: "Oil prices getting too high. Opec, please relax and take it easy. World cannot take a price hike -fragile!"
展开▼
