Oil prices fell on Friday and headed for a second straight weekly decline, as investors weighed the potential for a bigger OPEC+ output hike in July and uncertainty spread over U.S. tariff policy after the latest changes on the floor.
Brent crude futures were down 21 cents, or 0.33%, at $63.94 a barrel by 1451 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 34 cents, or 0.56%, at $60.60 a barrel.
Brent futures for July expire on Friday. The more liquid August contract was trading 43 cents lower, or 0.71%, at $59.77 a barrel.
At that level, the benchmark front-month contract was headed for a weekly decline of more than 1%. Prices dipped into negative territory after Reuters reported that OPEC+ may discuss a larger July output increase than the 411,000 barrels per day (bpd) the group has made in May and June.
"Oil prices would probably only come under greater pressure if oil producing countries increased their output more than in previous months or gave indications that there would be similarly large increases in subsequent months," Commerzbank analysts said earlier on Friday in a note, published before the news.
Price Futures Group senior analyst Phil Flynn said an online post on Truth Social by US President Donald Trump that appeared to threaten more changes in tariff levels on Chinese imports also weighed on crude prices.
"Trump's Truth Social message about China failing to adhere to the tariff truce also combined with the Reuters headline to push prices lower," Flynn said.
The potential for OPEC+ output increases comes as the global surplus has widened to 2.2 million barrels per day, likely requiring price adjustments to encourage a supply-side response and restore balance, JPMorgan analysts said in a note, adding that they expect prices to remain in the current range before falling into the $50s by year-end.
Trump's tariffs are expected to remain in place after a federal appeals court temporarily reinstated them on Thursday, overturning a trade court decision a day earlier to immediately block the hefty duties. Oil prices fell more than 1% on Thursday. They have fallen more than 10% since Trump announced the "Liberation Day" tariffs on April 2. Also weighing on prices, U.S. consumer spending slowed in April, data released on Friday showed. (alg)
Source: Reuters
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