13.12.201909:14:00UTC+00Oil Prices Climb To Three-month High On Trade Optimism

Oil prices hit their highest level in nearly three months on Friday, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. is getting close to a "big deal" with China.

Benchmark Brent crude for February settlement climbed 1.25 percent to $64.99 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate futures for January delivery were up 1 percent at $59.78 a barrel.

The U.S.-China trade war looked set to de-escalate, with reports suggesting that Washington has offered to slash existing tariffs and cancel new ones set to take effect Sunday as part of a deal to boost Chinese purchases of U.S. farm goods and obtain other concessions.

Reports say that the terms have been agreed but the legal text has not yet been finalized.

Both sides are yet to formally confirm the news ahead of a Sunday deadline, when new U.S. tariffs on $160 billion in Chinese goods will take effect.

Meanwhile, the ruling Conservative party secured a landslide victory in the U.K. snap election, ending the Parliamentary deadlock and making it possible to deliver Brexit by the end of January.

The results suggest that PM Johnson could push his Brexit deal through Parliament and take the United Kingdom out of the European Union by the January deadline.

The outcome is likely to bring an end to the Brexit deadlock in Parliament that has paralyzed the country.