Escalation in the Sino-U.S. trade war has.......>

OIL: Escalation in the Sino-U.S. trade war has weighed on the major oil

benchmarks over the last couple of sessions, with Brent & WTI trading ~$0.70 &

~$0.60 softer than their respective settlement levels at writing, albeit well

off their session lows.

- It is worth reminding that Friday saw U.S. crude oil added to the list of

goods that China will levy tariffs on. Friday also saw the release of the latest

weekly Baker Hughes rig count data, which revealed 16 fewer active U.S. oil rigs

in the most recent survey week

- Elsewhere, the weekend saw Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif make a quick trip to

the G7 summit, he didn't speak with the U.S. delegation and there was a lack of

clarity surrounding the matter. RTRS source reports suggested that Iran wants

"to export a minimum of 700,000 barrels per day of its oil and ideally up to 1.5

million bpd if the West wants to negotiate with Tehran to save a 2015 nuclear

deal."