Crude oil prices gained for the second straight day on Wednesday, with West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rising nearly $2.50 from Monday’s lows to trade around $58.40 per barrel. The upward momentum is fueled by renewed optimism that an upcoming trade agreement between the United States and China could revive global oil demand.
Market sentiment improved after US President Donald Trump announced plans to meet Chinese Premier Xi Jinping next week. Ahead of the high-level summit, US Treasury Secretary Scot Bessent and China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng are scheduled to meet in Malaysia later this week to finalize preparatory details.
In a separate move, Trump confirmed that Washington has signed an agreement to cut import duties on Indian goods from 50% to 15–16%, in exchange for India reducing its imports of Russian crude—an action seen as part of the broader US effort to rebalance global oil trade flows.
Adding further support, data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) released on Tuesday showed that US crude inventories fell by 3 million barrels for the week ending October 17—the first decline in four weeks—indicating tightening domestic supply conditions.
Despite the recent recovery, oil prices remain close to multi-year lows near the $55 mark seen in April and May. Concerns about sluggish global growth and the possibility of increased output from major producers continue to weigh on the long-term outlook, keeping fears of an oversupplied market alive.
