Oil Prices Near Lowest Point of Year with U.S. Tariffs, Supply in Focus
Oil prices held steady near their lowest points of the year, with U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats and supply concerns in focus.
Brent crude traded below $73 a barrel after falling 3% in the previous two sessions, with West Texas Intermediate near $69. Trump said planned tariffs on Mexico and Canada “will not stop,” though the timing was unclear. He also said tariffs on the European Union would also be forthcoming.
Crude prices were on track for their biggest monthly loss since September as the trade war between the U.S. and its trading partners clouded the economic outlook. That concern has overshadowed the possibility of tighter sanctions on Iran being lifted — a scenario that Trafigura Group flagged as the biggest upside risk — and the possibility that OPEC+ will again delay restarting shut-in production.
Also on the supply side, President Trump said he plans to revoke Chevron Corp.’s license to operate in Venezuela, threatening that country’s recovery. Meanwhile, in the Middle East, Iraq said it had reached a pact with Kurdistan to resume crude exports, without giving a timeframe. On the Ukraine front, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will visit the U.S. on Friday, President Trump said.
That comes as the U.S. makes progress in talks to end a three-year war between Moscow and Kyiv, a potential shift that could spur an easing of sanctions on Russian flows. “The growing prospect of a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia remains key, with any deal potentially seeing an influx of Russian oil into the market,” said Yeap Jun Rong, a market strategist at IG Asia Pte in Singapore. Weak U.S. economic data and tariff uncertainty have also done little to support prices, he said.
Source: Bloomberg
