Singapore — Oil prices reversed earlier gains on Monday as concern over a looming trade dispute between the US and China weighed on global markets. The possibility of a full-blown trade war between the US and China battered Asian shares on Monday. The falls came after US President Donald Trump last week signed a memorandum that could impose tariffs on up to $60bn of imports from China. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $65.51 a barrel at 2.55am GMT, down 37c or 0.6% from their previous close. Brent crude futures were at $70.24 a barrel, down 21c or 0.3%. Crude was also squeezed by a rise in the number of US rigs drilling for oil to a three-year high of 804, implying further rises in US production, which has already jumped by a quarter since mid-2016, to 10.4-million barrels a day. Earlier in the session, prices were lifted by statements from Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), that production cuts th...
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