2019.12.0319:27:00UTC+00Oil Prices Recover From Early Weakness To Close Modestly Higher

After recovering from an early move to the downside, the price of crude oil fluctuated over the course of the trading day on Tuesday.

Crude oil for January delivery eventually ended the day up $0.14 or 0.3 percent at $56.10 after falling as low as $55.35 a barrel.

The price of oil initially came under pressure after President Donald Trump suggested he might prefer to wait until after the 2020 elections to strike a trade deal with China.

Trump told reporters at a NATO summit in London there is no deadline to reach a trade deal, adding, "In some ways, I think it's better to wait until after the election."

"But they want to make a deal now, and we'll see whether or not the deal's going to be right; it's got to be right," Trump said.

Trump claimed a potential trade deal is only dependent on whether he wants to sign it, because the U.S. is "doing very well" and China is "having by far the worst year that they have had in 57 years."

The comments from the president added to rising trade concerns after his administration threatened to impose duties of up to 100 percent on $2.4 billion in French imports, including champagne and handbags.

Selling pressure waned over the course of the morning, however, with traders looking ahead to the meeting of OPEC members of other oil producers later this week.

Reports suggest OPEC and its allies will discuss increasing the existing supply cut of 1.2 million barrels per day by another 400,000 barrels per day and extend the pact until June.

On Wednesday, the Energy Information Administration is scheduled to release its weekly oil inventory report, with crude oil inventories expected to drop by 1.8 million barrels in the week ended November 29th.