Mubasher: Oil futures settled higher on Wednesday, recording its eighth successive growth and highest level since mid-December, as talks between the US and China saw positive progress.

February NYMEX WTI increased by $2.58, or 5.2%, to close at $52.36 per barrel.

The improvement in prices is the result of the cuts in the Saudi output under the production reduction agreement enforced members and non-members of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) with the start of 2019, along with a decline in the US crude inventories.