Brent crude was up 32 cents, or 0.7 per cent, at $44.67 a barrel by 0753 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude rose 31 cents, or 0.7 per cent, to $42.65
China had emerged as a top U.S. crude buyer, taking $5.42 billion worth in 2018 before trade tensions brought flows to a near halt
US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 70 cents, or 1.7 per cent, at $40.57 a barrel
OPEC and allies including Russia, collectively known as OPEC+, have pledged to slash production by a record 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) for a third month in July
Analysts and investors have been wondering if the same will happen to Europe's Brent oil futures
Major issuers of junk bonds to finance expansion, US energy companies are in deep trouble now
JPMorgan analysts maintained their forecast for Brent to average $64.50 a barrel this year
Crude inventories rose 6.8 million barrels in the week to May 31, compared with analyst expectations for a decrease of 849,000 barrels
Ross is in India to participate in a trade forum
Trading desks of oil major BP and merchants Vitol, Gunvor and Trafigura have recorded losses in the tens of millions of dollars each
The United States this week demanded countries halt imports of Iranian oil from November, a hardline position the Trump administration hopes will cut off funding to Tehran
Several members of the OPEC responded to Trump's tweet, saying prices were not artificially inflated
Last November, Opec along with Russia and a group of other producers extended an output-cutting deal to cover all of 2018
US output is still up by almost 16% since mid-2016
The deal to cut output expires in March 2018, but Opec will meet on November 30 to discuss its policy, with most analysts expecting some form of agreement to extend the cuts
US West Texas Intermediate crude futures hit $58.92 a barrel, their highest since July 2015
WTI has been buoyed by the shutdown of the 590,000 bpd Keystone pipeline, one of the largest crude pipelines from Canada to the United States