Crude has slid since Trump took office on concerns that his global trade war will dent economic growth and slow energy demand. Adding to the bearishness, OPEC+ has decided to revive idled output faster than expected. Already, the drop in oil prices is spurring American shale producers to cut spending in the Permian Basin.
Trump lashed out at remarks made by Putin, who questioned the legitimacy of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s government and suggested that a change in leadership may be necessary for a peace deal to be valid. Putin has consistently emphasized that elections in Ukraine will have to precede any ceasefire deal.
Oil is the primary factor that determines gasoline prices in the United States, and commodity experts at Standard Chartered have predicted that U.S. oil production will not surge under Trump. According to the experts, U.S. crude production has increased by 4.7 mb/d since the pandemic-era low of May 2020; however, it’s just 0.4 mb/d higher than the pre-pandemic high of November 2019, working out to an annual production growth rate of just 80 thousand barrels per day (kb/d) over this timeframe.