US-China trade talks will impact Asia's oil demand: OPEC chief

The ongoing US-China trade dispute has the potential to disrupt growth in major Asian markets which in turn will impact oil demand, CNBC reported, citing OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo.

“We are concerned with the lingering trade disputes,” Barkindo said at an energy forum in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

“Any measures that may impact or constrain trade may likely impact on growth and by extension on demand for energy. At the moment, outside the US, China and India remain the ‘brightest spots’ in terms of demand for energy. So you can imagine our concern of the lingering negotiations.”

While China is the world’s largest importer of crude, and its purchases constituted 18.6 percent of total crude imports in 2017, Wood Mackenzie expects India to overtake China as the country with the world’s largest crude demand by 2024.

Tensions between the world’s two largest economies escalated last year, after the US announced tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods, with Beijing reciprocating with counter-measures. Last week, the US government and their Chinese counterparts met in Beijing, with US President Donald Trump in a tweet said that talks were "going well."

However, Barkindo said that OPEC remains "cautiously optimistic that they’ll be able to overcome some of the difficulties, on the premise that both the US and China want these issues resolved."

He echoed the same views of Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih, expecting “oil markets to balance this year.”