Asia-Pacific trade saw crude draw support.......>

OIL: Asia-Pacific trade saw crude draw support from a largely weaker USD &

uptick in risk appetite, with WTI & Brent adding ~$0.60 apiece at writing.

- RTRS sources reported that "three cargoes of U.S. crude are heading to China

from the U.S. Gulf Coast, the first departures since late September and a 90-day

pause in the two countries' trade war that began last month."

- Elsewhere WSJ reported that "the U.S. is evaluating whether to impose tougher

sanctions against Venezuela's military and vital oil industry."

- Monday saw the major crude benchmarks settle higher, recovering from the early

hit that they took on the back of the soft Chinese trade breakdown, as OPEC

firmed up dates for the next JMMC, which will be held in Baku in the month of

March. Monday also saw comments from Saudi energy minister Al-Falih, who stated

that the global economic slowdown will not weigh on crude prices.

- The weekly API crude inventory estimates dominate on Tuesday, with analysts

looking for a 1.3mn bbl draw in headline crude stocks in this week's official

DoE inventory release.