United States President Donald Trump announced he had invited top oil executives to the White House to find how to support the industry disrupted by plunging demand for energy during a pandemic and a price showdown between Saudi Arabia and Russia.
Trump also disclosed he had recently spoken with both Russia's and Saudi Arabia's leaders and hoped the two countries would strike a deal and iron out their differences within a "few days" - reducing production and pushing oil prices back up.
Oil prices rose on Thursday after Trump told CNBC that the Kingdom and the Russians will relieve oil pressure, putting an end to a price conflict that led to the deep plunge of crude.
West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 25 percent to settle for the highest one-day percentage gain in history at $25.32 per barrel. Given the 60 percent decrease of WTI this year, a smaller increase of course, now represents a much bigger percentage shift. International standard Brent jumped at $29.14 a barrel, or $4.40.
American pressure to withdraw from its price war with Russia has so far been resisted by Saudi Arabia going on with its intention to pump large amounts of oil even as the coronavirus pandemic erodes global demand.
Hours after the announcement from the Department of Energy went public, Trump told reporters during a media briefing that he thinks the two economic powerhouses "will be working it out in the next few days."
Worldwide, oil prices have fallen by about two-thirds at the start of 2020 as the coronavirus has battered global economies at the same time as Saudi Arabia's main producers and Russia have started flooding the oil market.
Speaking to Reuters on Thursday, a senior Gulf source familiar with Saudi thought said the Kingdom is supporting oil producers' cooperation in stabilizing prices but Russia's resistance to last month's proposal to deepen supply cuts has caused market turbulence.
On Thursday, Saudi Arabia called for an "urgent" meeting between OPEC and its allies, through its official media unit.
Notwithstanding the nearly 25 percent rally of oil, the contract settled its day's highest mark as traders doubted whether a fall in Trump's magnitude indicated was even doable, particularly if Washington was not involved. As a matter of fact, according to a Reuters report, the administration will not be asking local producers to slash output.
Trump is expected to explore a number of options for improving the industry in the coming meetings with oil executives, including the prospect of oil import tariffs from Saudi Arabia, according to the Wall Street Journal, which was first to report on the scheduled meetings.
