WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Oil prices traded higher on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had pledged his country would stop buying oil from Russia, a move that could squeeze global supply.
The upside remained capped as trade tensions between the United States and China continue, and industry data showed U.S. crude oil inventories increased during the week ended Oct. 10.
Benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.7 percent to $62.33 a barrel in European trade, while WTI crude futures were up 0.8 percent at $58.73.
Trump said that Indian PM Modi had assured him that New Delhi will stop buying oil from Moscow and that he would get China to do the same thing, in an attempt to pressure the Kremlin to negotiate a peace deal in Ukraine.
Reacting to Trump's remark, Russian ambassador Denis Alipov said that India's decisions on oil imports are guided by its 'national interests.'
India also firmly responded to Trump's remark. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) reiterated that India's energy imports are driven solely by the goal of protecting the interests of Indian consumers amid global energy volatility.
Meanwhile, trade tensions kept investors on edge after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent slammed Beijing's rare earth export curbs as 'China versus the world,' vowing that Washington and its allies would 'neither be commanded nor controlled.'
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer called China's new rare earth export restrictions 'a global supply-chain power grab,' while Trump stated that the United States is in a trade war with China.
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