Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Oil Prices Fall After Trump Called on OPEC to “Reduce Pricing Now”

Published 07/05/2018, 12:01 AM
Updated 07/05/2018, 12:01 AM
© Reuters.  Oil prices fell on Thursday

© Reuters. Oil prices fell on Thursday

Investing.com – Oil prices fell on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump urged the world’s major oil producing countries to do more to stabilize oil markets.

Crude Oil WTI Futures for August delivery were trading at $73.86 a barrel at 12:02AM ET (04:02 GMT), down 0.38%. Brent Oil Futures for September delivery, traded in London, were also down 0.73% at $77.67 per barrel.     

“The OPEC Monopoly must remember that gas prices are up & they are doing little to help. If anything, they are driving prices higher as the United States defends many of their members for very little $’s. This must be a two way street. REDUCE PRICING NOW!” Trump said in a tweet on Wednesday.

His comments came only days after the U.S. and Saudi Arabia reviewed the possibility of the kingdom releasing more of its own oil to dampen rising prices.

"With contentious midterm U.S. elections looming, the President continues to strong-arm Saudi Arabia to increase oil supplies which, at least for now, is containing price action below WTI $75 per barrel," said Stephen Innes, Head of Trading for Asia/Pacific at futures brokerage OANDA.

Meanwhile, developments in Saudi Arabia remained in focus as King Salman agreed that the country, at its discretion, would add more output to the market. The Saudis, however, did not specify any production targets.

“This incident with the Saudis and the U.S. administration is just noise … You cannot order 2 million barrels like ordering a coffee somewhere,” Beat Wittmann, a partner at financial consultancy Porta Advisors, told CNBC

Looming U.S. sanctions against major oil exporter Iran also received some attention, as the U.S. government said it wants to shut Iran’s oil exports out of the market from November. 

"A key driver of the rise in prices has been the OPEC-Russia deal to cut oil output, compounded by collapsing Venezuelan production and the U.S. decision to end the Iran deal," National Australia Bank (NAB) said in its July outlook.

OPEC together with a group of non-OPEC producers led by Russia started to withhold output in 2017 to prop up prices.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.