Oil Retreats Despite Trump Threats of Russia Sanctions
Oil futures fall as the market makes light of President Trump's threat of tariffs on Russia and countries that trade with Russia if a deal with Ukraine isn't reached in 50 days.
The negative price reaction could be partly because the 50-day deadline "maintains the possibility that the oil market will avoid any disruption," Kieran Tompkins and Liam Peach of Capital Economics say in a note.
The extent to which Trump will follow through on the threat remains a question given his preference for lower oil prices, although "targeting the exports of one of the world's largest energy producers would have important ramifications in energy markets," they say.
The impact would probably be greater on natural gas than oil, "depending on to what extent OPEC+ would step in and plug the shortfall in oil supply."
WTI settles down2.1% at $66.98 a barrel, and Brent falls 1.6% to 69.21 a barrel.
Source: Marketwatch
