HOUSTON: Oil prices fell on Friday and headed for a second consecutive weekly loss, as investors weigh a potentially larger OPEC+ output hike for July, and uncertainty spreads around U.S. tariff policy after the latest courtroom twist.
Brent crude futures fell by 21 cents, or 0.33%, to $63.94 a barrel by 1451 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell by 34 cents, or 0.56%, to $60.60 a barrel.
The Brent July futures contract is due to expire on Friday. The more liquid August contract was trading 43 cents lower, or 0.71%, at $59.77 a barrel.
At these levels, the front-month benchmark contracts were headed for weekly losses over 1%.
Price moves dipped into negative territory after Reuters reported that OPEC+ may discuss an increase in July output larger than the 411,000 barrels per day (bpd) that the group had made for May and June.
Oil prices fall on demand concerns in volatile session
“The oil price would probably only come under greater pressure if the oil-producing countries were to increase their production even more than in previous months or give indications that there will be similarly high production increases in the following months,” Commerzbank analysts said earlier on Friday in a note, published before the news.
Senior Analyst Phil Flynn with Price Futures Group said an online post on Truth Social by U.S. President Donald Trump that seemed to threaten more changes in tariff levels for Chinese imports also put pressure on crude prices.
“Trump’s Truth Social message on China failing to observe a truce on tariffs also combined with the Reuters headline to push prices down,” Flynn said.
The potential OPEC+ output hike comes as the global surplus has widened to 2.2 million bpd, likely necessitating a price adjustment to prompt a supply-side response and restore balance, said JPMorgan analysts in a note, adding that they expect prices to remain within the current range before easing into the high $50s by year-end.
Trump’s tariffs were expected to remain in effect after a federal appeals court temporarily reinstated them on Thursday, reversing a trade court’s decision a day earlier to put an immediate block on the sweeping duties.
Oil prices were down more than 1% on Thursday.
Oil prices have lost more than 10% since Trump announced his “Liberation Day” tariffs on April 2.
Also pressuring prices, U.S. consumer spending slowed in April, according to data published on Friday.
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