President Donald Trump’s tariff plans and a move by OPEC+ to boost production roiled oil markets Thursday, with the U.S. benchmark crude price plunging more than 6 percent.
While Trump’s new tariffs exclude “energy and other certain minerals that are not available in the United States,” the outlook for oil demand dimmed as economists fear the wide-ranging tariffs could lead to a global economic downturn — or a full-blown recession. Trump announced his new tariff plan Wednesday afternoon.
“When we see economic recessions or slowdowns, we see less oil consumption, less energy consumption,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at the fuel-price-tracking service GasBuddy. “And so, inevitably, the markets are very worried that significant tariffs are going to potentially derail the U.S economy and lead to lower oil consumption.”
The main West Texas Intermediate oil price settled down 6.6 percent Thursday at $66.95 a barrel. The Brent global crude benchmark settled at $70.14, a drop of about 6.4 percent. U.S. stock market indices also fell sharply Thursday.
