Oil prices fell on Monday after the U.S. dropped an initial threat of sanctions against Colombia, easing immediate concerns about oil supply disruptions, although a show of force by U.S. President Donald Trump kept markets on edge.
Brent crude was down 60 cents, or 0.8%, at $77.90 a barrel by 1300 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was down 57 cents, or 0.8%, at $74.09.
Both benchmarks fluctuated between modest gains and losses in early trading.
The U.S. quickly dropped plans to impose sanctions and tariffs on Colombia after the South American country agreed to take in migrants deported from the United States, the White House said late Sunday.
Colombia shipped about 41% of its crude exports by sea to the U.S. last year, according to data from analytics firm Kpler.
"There's a general negative sentiment in the market. Even if sanctions don't happen, it still creates a nervousness that Trump will bully whoever needs to be bullied to get what he wants," said Bjarne Schieldrop, head of commodity strategy at SEB.
"The market is very tight fundamentally," Schieldrop said, referring to a timeframe that shows crude prices for faster delivery are rising.
Gains were capped by Trump's repeated calls on Friday for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut oil prices to hurt Russia's oil-rich finances and help end the war in Ukraine.
"One way to stop it quickly is to stop OPEC from making so much money and lower oil prices ... The war will be over soon," Trump said.
Trump also threatened to hit Russia "and other participating countries" with taxes, tariffs and sanctions if a deal to end the war in Ukraine is not reached soon.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that he and Trump should meet to discuss the Ukraine war and energy prices.
"They're preparing for negotiations," said John Driscoll of Singapore-based consultancy JTD Energy, adding that this was creating volatility in the oil market.
He added that the oil market may be slightly skewed to the downside, with Trump keen to increase US production and try to secure overseas markets for US crude.
"He wants to take some of OPEC's market share; so in that sense he's a competitor," Driscoll said.(AL)
Source: Investing.com
Oil prices stabilized on Thursday (February 12th), as the market reassigned a risk premium to US-Iran tensions despite US inventory data showing swelling domestic supplies. This movement confirms one ...
Oil prices rose on Wednesday (February 11th), supported by a combination of geopolitical risk premiums from US-Iran tensions and more solid Asian demand signals particularly from India which helped ea...
Oil remained in the green zone on Tuesday (February 10th), as the market refused to abandon the Middle East risk premium. As of 13:07 GMT (20:07 WIB), Brent rose +0.4% to $69.32/barrel, while WTI rose...
Oil prices fell about 1% on Monday as concerns about conflict in the Middle East eased slightly. The market calmed after the US and Iran agreed to resume talks on Tehran's nuclear program, reducing fe...
Oil prices moved slightly higher in a volatile session on Friday, as investors assessed the direction of nuclear negotiations between the United States and Iran. Price movements appeared sensitive to ...
Oil prices stabilized on Thursday (February 12th), as the market reassigned a risk premium to US-Iran tensions despite US inventory data showing swelling domestic supplies. This movement confirms one thing: geopolitical headlines are still more...
Gold prices weakened slightly on Thursday (February 12th), as more solid US employment data reduced market confidence in an imminent Federal Reserve interest rate cut. The strong employment data prompted market participants to shift expectations of...
The Hang Seng Index reversed its downward trend in Hong Kong on Thursday (February 12th), weakening by around 0.9% to around 27,000 after a strong session earlier. This decline halted the momentum of the short term rally, as investors began to...