2020.03.3119:17:00UTC+00Crude Oil Futures Settle Higher

Crude oil prices moved higher on Tuesday, rebounding after a sharp setback in the previous session that sent futures contract crashing to their lowest close in 18 years.

Oil prices rose today due largely to reports that the U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed to talks aimed at addressing volatility in the global oil markets.

According to Kremlin, Trump and Putin agreed during a phone call on Monday to have their top energy officials discuss slumping global oil markets.

"Opinions on the current state of global oil markets were exchanged. It was agreed there would be Russo-American consultations about this through the ministers of energy," the report from Kremlin said.

Oil futures ended the month with a loss of over 50%. In the first quarter of 2020, oil futures shed about 66%.

West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended up $0.39, or 1.9%, at $20.48 a barrel, after hitting a low of $20.05 this afternoon.

WTI Crude oil futures for May ended down $1.42, or about 6.6%, at $20.09 a barrel on Monday.

Positive Chinese manufacturing data contributed a bit as well to oil's rise.

The manufacturing sector in China moved back into expansion in March, the latest survey from the National Bureau of Statistics revealed with a PMI score of 52.0 - beating forecasts for 45.0. That's up sharply from 35.7 in February.

The non-manufacturing PMI came in at 52.3, also exceeding expectations for 42.0 and up from 29.6 in the previous month. The composite PMI posted a score of 53.0, up from 28.9 a month prior.