Oil prices rose in Asian trade on Thursday, benefiting from increased bets on tighter supplies as U.S. President Donald Trump ramped up his tariff offensive against India over its purchase of Russian oil.
Crude prices also benefited from some bargain buying after sinking to two-month lows on Wednesday, amid persistent concerns over higher OPEC+ production and worsening demand across the globe.
Brent oil futures for October rose 0.9% to $67.48 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 0.9% to $63.98 a barrel by 21:43 ET (01:43 GMT).
Trump raises India tariffs to 50% over Russian oil buying Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order raising his effective tariffs on India to a cumulative 50%, citing New Delhi’s continued purchasing of Russian oil.
The new levy will be effective 21 days after August 7, and ramps up pressure on the South Asian economy, which is also among the world’s biggest oil importers.
Trump also raised the prospect of tariffs on China over its buying of Russian oil.
Trump’s tariffs are largely aimed at further pressuring Moscow into ending its war against Ukraine.
Top U.S. officials were seen landing in Moscow this week to keep up ceasefire talks with the Kremlin. The White House also said that Trump could meet Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in the coming weeks to discuss Ukraine.
Still, tariffs on Russia’s biggest oil buyers are expected to severely crimp global supplies in the coming months, especially if they seek oil supplies from other sources.
This notion offered some support to oil prices.
Still, ANZ analysts noted that the 21-day grace period for Indian tariffs still left the door open for negotiations.
Oil nurses steep losses on demand concerns, OPEC+ production But oil was still nursing steep losses over the past week, with traders remaining largely bearish on crude in the face of increased OPEC+ production, and creeping doubts over global demand.
The OPEC+ agreed to hike output sharply in September, further unwinding two years of production cuts despite sustained weakness in oil prices. Members of the cartel are now seeking to increase production to offset a loss of fiscal revenue from weak oil prices.
Crude prices also remained under pressure from sustained concerns over weakening demand, especially following a swathe of weak economic readings from the U.S. and China in recent weeks.
Still, oil took some encouragement from data showing an unexpected, outsized draw in U.S. inventories last week. Government data showed on Wednesday that U.S. oil stockpiles fell by 3 million barrels last week, against expectations for a 0.2 million barrel build.
