Oil prices climb over China's plans to ship in large volumes of US crude

Oil prices climbed higher on Monday, lifted by China's plans to ship in large volumes of US crude in August and September, outweighing concerns over a slowdown in demand recovery after the coronavirus pandemic and an uptick in supplies.

Brent crude rose 21 cents, or 0.5 per cent, to $45.01 a barrel by 0023 GMT while US West Texas Intermediate crude was up 27 cents, or 0.6 per cent, to $42.28 a barrel.

Chinese state-owned oil firms have tentatively booked tankers to transport at least 20 million barrels of US crude for August and September, Reuters reported on Friday, as