Oil Updates — crude climbs on potential Russia sanctions; OPEC+ output, tariffs weigh
Brent crude futures were up 19 cents, or 0.28 percent, at $68.83 a barrel as of 7:08 a.m. Saudi time. US West Texas Intermediate crude ticked up 24 cents, or 0.36 percent, to $66.81 a barrel.
So far this week, Brent has added 0.8 percent and WTI has dipped 0.2 percent.
Both contracts lost more than 2 percent on Thursday as investors worried about the impact of Trump's evolving tariff policy on global economic growth and oil demand.
'This morning, prices have recouped some of this decline after President Trump said he plans to make a 'major' statement on Russia on Monday. This could leave the market nervous over the potential for further sanctions on Russia,' ING analysts wrote in a client note on Friday.
Trump has expressed frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin due to the lack of progress on peace with Ukraine and Russia's intensifying bombardment of Ukrainian cities.
Tight market fundamentals with improving seasonal demand has also lent some support to oil prices, as has renewed Houthi attacks on vessels sailing through the Red Sea, BMI analysts said in a weekly report.
A sign of demand improvement was the prospect of Saudi Arabia shipping about 51 million barrels of crude oil in August to China, the biggest such shipment in over two years.
Pressuring prices this week was an agreement on Saturday by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, known as OPEC+, to raise production by 548,000 barrels per day in August.
ING analysts said there might be one more increase for September before a pause.
These increases should move the global market into a large surplus in the fourth quarter, intensifying downward pressure on prices, ING analysts said.
OPEC cut its forecasts for global oil demand in 2026 to 2029 because of slowing Chinese demand, the group said in its 2025 World Oil Outlook published on Thursday.
Global demand is likely to average 106.3 million barrels per day in 2026, OPEC said, versus 108 million bpd estimated in last year's forecast.
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