SINGAPORE: Oil lacked clear direction on Tuesday as markets monitored President Donald Trump’s threats of higher US tariffs on European nations over his desire to buy Greenland, while a weaker dollar and better than expected economic data from the world’s top oil importer China provided a floor to prices.
Brent futures for March seesawed, rising earlier in the day but by 0740 GMT were down 16 cents, or 0.3%, at $63.78 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate crude contract for February, which expires on Tuesday, was up 14 cents, or 0.2%, at $59.58.
The more actively-traded WTI March contract fell 22 cents, or 0.4%, to $59.12. WTI contracts did not settle on Monday due to the US Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.
“A weaker US dollar provided some support to oil and the broader commodities complex,” said ING commodities strategists on Tuesday.
A weaker greenback makes dollar-denominated oil contracts cheaper for holders of other currencies.
Prices have held up relatively well amid a broader risk-off move in the markets, said ING, adding this followed the re-emergence of trade tensions between the US and Europe over Trump’s Greenland demands.
Over the weekend, fears of a renewed trade war escalated after Trump said he would impose additional 10% levies from February 1 on goods imported from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Britain, rising to 25% on June 1 if no deal on Greenland was reached.
China data supports oil
The oil market is also finding some support from better-than-expected fourth-quarter Chinese gross domestic product data released on Monday, said IG market analyst Tony Sycamore.
“This resilience in the world’s top oil importer provided a lift to demand sentiment,” he said.
China’s economy grew 5.0% last year, the data showed, meeting the government’s target by seizing a record share of global demand for goods to offset weak domestic consumption.
That strategy blunted the impact of US tariffs but is increasingly hard to sustain. China’s refinery throughput in 2025 also climbed, edging up 4.1% year-on-year, while crude oil output grew 1.5%, government data showed on Monday.
Both were at all-time highs.
Markets are also keeping a close eye on Venezuela’s oil sector after Trump said the US would run the industry following the capture of President Nicolas Maduro.
Vitol offered Venezuelan oil to Chinese buyers at discounts of about $5 per barrel to ICE Brent for April delivery, multiple trade sources said.
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