Oil prices fell more than 1% on Thursday, retreating from earlier gains, as investors weighed the potential impact of a US court ruling blocking President Donald Trump's most sweeping tariffs.

The market was also watching for potential new US sanctions curbing Russian crude flows and a decision by OPEC+ to raise output in July.

Brent crude futures settled down 75 cents, or 1.2%, at $64.15 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 90 cents, or 1.5%, to $60.94 a barrel.

Prices had earlier risen after a US court ruled Wednesday that Trump had exceeded his authority by imposing blanket tariffs on imports from US trading partners. The court was not asked to address some industry-specific tariffs that Trump has imposed on cars, steel and aluminum using separate laws.

Futures, however, continued to decline throughout the session, as senior Trump administration officials downplayed the impact of the ruling and insisted that there were other legal avenues available.

"The initial market reaction to Trump's retaliatory tariffs from the U.S. trade courts faded significantly as the session progressed," Jim Ritterbusch of U.S. energy consultancy Ritterbusch and Associates said in a note.

"One interpretation of this response is that not much has changed and that the uncertainty surrounding Trump's tariffs from day one will continue as they work their way through the court system and some sectoral tariffs such as autos and auto parts remain in place."

Weighing on futures on Thursday, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said in an interview with Bloomberg that oil demand is very weak in China and developments in Russia and Iran are "question marks" for oil prices. The U.S. and Iran are in talks aimed at reining in Iran's nuclear activities, which have accelerated since Trump pulled Washington out of a 2015 deal between Tehran and major powers that severely limited them.

"We've seen a lot of concerns come and go about the Iran situation, whether we're getting closer to a conflict or a peace deal," said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group. "We're moving technically and emotionally right now in a lot of these markets." (alg)

Source: Reuters