Why Trump, Saudi bonhomie may not help oil prices stay down in long term

The underlying dynamic of a market in which demand increasingly threatens to overtake supplies could push prices back up over the long run

US President Donald Trump’s weekend of oil diplomacy offered mixed messages on supply, and conflicting responses from traders after prices fell even as analysts predicted any drop may be short-lived.

Crude fell in New York late Sunday after a Trump tweet over the weekend suggested that Saudi Arabia had agreed to pump 2 million more barrels a day. But follow-up statements from the White House and the Saudi Press Agency were more ambiguous. They both said the two sides had talked, but neither statement cited a specific target.

In the short term, even the chance of a Saudi boost would