Crude oil prices fell on Friday as they headed for their first monthly decline since November, driven by uncertainty over global economic growth and fuel demand amid Washington's tariff threats and signs of a slowing U.S. economy.
The more active May Brent crude was down 59 cents, or 0.8%, at $72.98 a barrel by 0747 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $69.70 a barrel, down 65 cents, or 0.9%. Front-month Brent, which expires on Friday, was trading at $73.42, down 62 cents, or 0.8%.
Both benchmarks were on track for their first monthly decline in three months.
Factors including expectations of a U.S. economic slowdown, tariffs, OPEC+ plans to increase supply in April and the possibility of peace in Ukraine, which could make more Russian oil available, have curbed investor risk appetite.
"The only argument against it is that prices have fallen so much," said IG market analyst Tony Sycamore, adding that WTI is well supported between $65 and $70 a barrel based on technical charts.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday his proposed 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods will take effect on March 4, along with an additional 10% duty on Chinese imports.
Economists at BMI's Fitch research unit said market participants were struggling to gauge the impact of all the energy-related policy announcements made by the Trump administration this month.
"Those who are weighing the downside, particularly the U.S. tariff action, are currently winning," BMI said in a note.
Also weighing on investor sentiment, data showed U.S. jobless claims jumped more than expected in the previous week, while another government report provided further evidence that economic growth slowed in the fourth quarter.
Still, oil prices rose more than 2% on Thursday as supply concerns resurfaced after Trump revoked a license granted to U.S. oil major Chevron (NYSE:CVX) to operate in Venezuela.
The cancellation could lead to negotiations on a new agreement between U.S. producers and state-owned PDVSA to export crude to destinations other than the United States, sources familiar with the talks said.
OPEC+ is debating whether to raise oil output in April as planned or freeze it as its members struggle to read the global supply picture, eight OPEC+ sources said.
Source: Investing.com
Oil prices continued their rally amid growing concerns that Ukrainian drone attacks could disrupt oil flows through Russia's two most important crude export hubs on the Baltic coast. Brent crude rose...
Oil prices held steady on Friday (September 12th) as concerns about oversupply and weakening U.S. demand offset the risk of supply disruptions stemming from conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine. ...
Oil held a decline after the International Energy Agency projected an even bigger surplus next year, with the bearish outlook offsetting concerns about geopolitical tensions from the Middle East ...
Oil prices slid about 2% on Thursday on concerns over softening U.S. demand and broad oversupply that offset threats to output from the conflict in the Middle East and the war in Ukraine. Brent crude...
Oil prices fell on Thursday (September 11), pressured by concerns over weakening US demand and a widespread oversupply, offsetting the threat to production from conflicts in the Middle East and Russia...
Oil prices continued their rally amid growing concerns that Ukrainian drone attacks could disrupt oil flows through Russia's two most important crude export hubs on the Baltic coast. Brent crude rose above $67 per barrel, after falling 1.7% on...
Global gold prices strengthened on Friday (September 12th), with the last price recorded at $3,648 per ounce. This strengthening was driven by growing expectations of an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve next week, after US labor market data...
The EUR/USD pair lost ground early in the European session and retreated to levels near 1.1700, amid volatile and volatile trading on Friday. Comments from ECB official Olly Rehn, who warned of downside risks to inflation, failed to support the...
The Federal Reserve is likely to start a series of interest-rate cuts next week and keep going through the end of the year, traders bet on Wednesday...
The International Monetary Fund on Thursday said the Federal Reserve has scope to lower interest rates because of the weakening U.S. labor market,...
Producer inflation in the United States, as measured by the change in the Producer Price Index (PPI), fell to 2.6% annually in August from 3.3% in...
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Tuesday that the preliminary estimate of the Current Employment Statistics (CES) national benchmark...