Global crude prices held steady on Friday, maintaining weekly gains despite market jitters over fresh U.S. tariffs and sanctions announced by President Donald Trump.
By mid-morning on Friday trading, Brent crude had dipped by 35 cents to trade at $71.35 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped 37 cents to $68.89 per barrel.
Both benchmarks remained on track for solid weekly gains—Brent up 4.3% and WTI 5.7%—even after losing over 1% in the prior session.
Market sentiment this week has been dominated by the potential ripple effects of newly signed U.S. tariffs on global oil dynamics. President Trump’s executive order on Thursday introduced tariffs ranging from 10% to 41% on imports from several nations that failed to meet a trade deal deadline, including Canada, India, and Taiwan. However, countries such as the EU, Japan, South Korea, and the UK secured last-minute agreements.
“We think the resolution of trade deals to the satisfaction of the market – more or less, barring a few exceptions – has been the key driver for oil price bullishness in recent days, and further progress on trade talks with China in future could be a further confidence booster for the oil market,” Reuters quoting Suvro Sarkar of DBS Bank.
Crude markets also found support from renewed geopolitical risks. Trump’s threats to impose 100% secondary sanctions on buyers of Russian oil raised fears of reduced global oil flows, as traders weighed the impact on global supply chains.
“It is not possible to completely replace Russian oil supplies in any case, which is why effective sanctions would lead to significantly higher oil prices,” said Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch.
J.P. Morgan analysts warned Thursday that punitive measures on countries like China and India, who continue to import Russian crude, could jeopardise as much as 2.75 million barrels per day of Russian seaborne exports. Together, these two nations are the second and third-largest oil consumers globally.
Despite bullish triggers, some analysts cautioned that rising trade barriers could stifle economic growth and dampen long-term oil demand.
Fresh U.S. inflation figures released on Thursday indicated that previous tariffs are already exerting upward pressure on domestic prices, reinforcing concerns about potential demand-side weakness in the world’s top oil consumer.
