2019.08.1915:12:00UTC+00Oil Futures End Sharply Higher

Crude oil futures settled sharply higher on Monday after a drone attack sparked fire in a remote Saudi oil and gas field.

Oil's uptick was also due to renewed optimism about U.S.-China trade talks after U.S. President Donald Trump said that he discussed the impact of Washington's tariffs on Chinese goods with Apple chief Tim Cook.

On Sunday, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Fox News that if teleconferences between both sides' deputies pan out in the next 10 days, the U.S. and China can have a substantive renewal of negotiations.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for September ended up $1.33, or about 2.4%, at $56.14 a barrel.

On Friday, WTI crude oil futures ended up $0.40, or 0.7%, at $54.87 a barrel, after having plunge 2.1% a session earlier.

According to a report from the Saudi Press Agency, the drone attack by the Yemeni Houthis caused a fire at an oil and gas field in Saudi Arabia.

The media cited Saudi's energy minister Khalid al-Falih as saying that the damage caused by the explosive-laden drones was limited to a processing unit of the natural gas processing plant at the Shaybah field. It said the minister referred the event as a "terrorist attack".

Traders also look ahead to key manufacturing data due later this week from Europe and the United States as well as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's speech at the annual Jackson Hole Symposium for further direction.