Oil prices edged lower on Tuesday morning as OPEC+ began increasing its supply starting April 1. This came amid U.S. threats of secondary tariffs on buyers of Russian and Iranian oil, along with ongoing concerns that U.S. tariffs could slow economic growth.
By 8:40 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, U.S. benchmark WTI Crude was down 0.07% at $71.43 per barrel. Meanwhile, Brent Crude, the international benchmark, fell by 0.08% to $74.65.
On Monday, oil prices had surged by $2 per barrel to a five-week high, following U.S. President Donald Trump’s warning of secondary sanctions on Russia’s energy sector if the U.S. and Russia fail to reach a ceasefire agreement in Ukraine. Trump told NBC in an interview on Sunday, “If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia’s fault — which it might not be — but if I think it was Russia’s fault, I am going to put secondary tariffs on oil, on all oil coming out of Russia.”
In the same interview, Trump also threatened Iran with bombings and sanctions unless a new nuclear deal is reached, under which Iran would promise not to develop nuclear weapons.
By Tuesday, oil prices had pulled back from their peak after OPEC+ started easing production cuts. The group added about 138,000 barrels per day (bpd) to its supply starting today.
The next significant event for oil prices will be Saturday’s meeting of OPEC+’s Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC), which will assess market conditions and could suggest production levels for May. The alliance will decide whether to continue easing the cuts or pause the increase in supply.
Until then, oil prices will likely respond to geopolitical developments—rising if secondary tariff threats on oil buyers increase or falling if economic data shows that trade and tariff disputes are hurting global growth.
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