Crude struggled in Asia-Pacific hours as the....>

OIL: Crude struggled in Asia-Pacific hours as the breakdown of the latest

Chinese trade data was weak, which introduced a fresh round of risk-off flows

after equities had started on the back foot. WTI & Brent both trade ~$0.50 lower

at writing. Brent sits just below $60.00 as a result.

- The weekend saw a deluge of comments from the OPEC nations. The cartel's

Sec-Gen Barkindo noted that he is largely optimistic over prospects of balancing

the oil market during 2019, although alluded to worries re: the U.S.-China trade

spat. Elsewhere, Saudi Energy Minister Al-Falih noted that he believes that

OPEC+ will meet production commitments to balance oil markets at some point this

year, although Falih alluded to some countries exhibiting a slower than

anticipated pace. UAE energy minister al-Mazrouei noted that he expects an

average oil price of $70/bbl during 2019.

- Late Friday the WSJ reported that "OPEC is debating an aggressive

public-influence campaign aimed at U.S. lawmakers and the White House, a first

in its six-decade history, according to officials at the organization." Active

oil rigs in the U.S. fell by 4 in the latest weekly Baker Hughes rig count data.