Oil prices plummet in early trade, extending the previous week's losses on fears that escalating global trade tensions will spark a recession and weaken demand for crude.

Brent is down 3.7% at $63.13 a barrel, while WTI falls 3.9% to $59.56 a barrel.

Both benchmarks dropped to a four-year low as China retaliated against President Trump's levies and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned U.S. tariffs will likely raise inflation and slow economic growth. "The scale of the selloff suggests the market is pricing in a significant demand hit as recession fears grow," analysts at ING say.

Crude's losses were also exacerbated by OPEC+'s unexpected decision to increase oil supply by three times the planned amount next month. Meanwhile, top oil exporter Saudi Arabia cut its official selling prices for May loadings of its flagship Arab Light crude to Asia by $2.30 a barrel.

Source: Marketwatch