Khaberni - Oil prices rose nearly 1% in early trading on Thursday after US President Donald Trump said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had pledged that his country would stop buying oil from Russia, which supplies about a third of its imports.
By 00:46 GMT, Brent crude futures were up 57 cents, or 0.9%, to $62.48 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude futures in the U.S. climbed 0.9%, or 54 cents, to $58.81.
The benchmark crudes touched their lowest level since early May last session amid trade tension between the United States and China and after the International Energy Agency warned of a significant surplus next year as OPEC+ producers boost output amid weak demand.
Trump said on Wednesday that India would stop purchasing oil from Russia, its largest supplier. He added that the United States would then try to push China to take a similar step as Washington intensifies its efforts to cut off Moscow's energy revenue and pressure it to negotiate a peace deal in Ukraine.
India and China are the largest buyers of Russian seaborne crude oil, and both are sanctioned by the United States and the European Union.
Modi resisted U.S. pressure for months to stop buying Russian oil, and Indian officials defended the purchases as vital for national energy security.
Market analyst at A.G. Tony Cicamore said: "On the margin, this is a positive development for the price of crude oil as it will make a large buyer (India) stop its imports from Russian oil."
Later today, investors await weekly U.S. inventory data from the Energy Information Administration after mixed numbers from the American Petroleum Institute.
Sources in the market, citing American Petroleum Institute figures from Wednesday said that U.S. crude oil and gasoline stocks increased, while distillate stockpiles decreased last week.
The sources reported that crude oil stocks rose by 7.36 million barrels in the week ending October 10, gasoline stocks increased by 2.99 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles fell by 4.79 million barrels compared to the previous week.
