Oil prices rebound on Friday from two-month low

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - Oil prices opened higher Friday rebounding from their lowest level in two months, after plummeting by around 5% on Thursday due to escalating Sino-U.S. trade tensions that are threatening global demand, and with the rise of crude inventories in the U.S.

International benchmark Brent crude was trading at $68.50 per barrel with a 0.72% gain after closing Thursday at $68.01 a barrel.

American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was at $58.52 a barrel for a 0.57% increase after ending the previous session at $58.19 per barrel.

On Thursday, Brent crude lost 4.2% falling to $67.02 per barrel, marking its lowest level since March 28, while WTI declined 5.26% to $57.34 a barrel -- its lowest level since March 13.

On Thursday, China said its trade negotiations with the U.S. could not continue unless Washington addresses its "wrong actions."

"If the U.S. would like to keep on negotiating it should, with sincerity, adjust its wrong actions. Only then can talks continue," Gao Feng, a spokesperson at the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, was quoted as saying by CNBC.

While the trade tensions between the world's two largest economies continue to threaten oil demand around the world, rising crude inventories in the U.S. intensified worries over a glut of supply in the global oil market.

Commercial crude oil inventories in the U.S. increased by 4.7 million barrels, or 1%, to 476.8 million barrels for the week ending May 17, according to the U.S.' Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday. The market expectation was a decrease of 600,000 million barrels.