On Monday morning, oil prices were recovering and traded up by about 1.5% following the weekend U.S. announcement that some electronics, including smartphones, would be exempted from the tariffs on China. Brent Crude prices traded at about $65 per barrel, while the U.S. benchmark, WTI Crude, was at just above $62 a barrel.
This points towards weaker oil demand going forward, although the prospect of U.S. action reducing Iranian oil exports played some counterbalancing role for prices. On Friday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the federal government was capable of halting oil exports from Iran. “We can follow the ships leaving Iran. We know where they go. We can stop Iran’s export of oil,” Wright said.
Oil executives had identified efforts by New York and other states to penalize the industry for its greenhouse gas emissions and contributions to climate change as a top concern during a meeting with the president at the White House last month, according to people familiar with the matter. It’s an example of how the industry is getting much of what it wants from the administration, even as Trump’s global tariffs have triggered a sharp drop in crude prices over the past week.
The angry mutterings at the Permian Basin Petroleum Association’s “Spring Swing” golf tournament this week weren’t all about missed putts or lost balls. The Texas oilmen on the fairways had a more serious concern: The president they helped elect was tanking oil prices.
It’s official: President Donald Trump has announced sweeping tariffs on friends and foes alike, with the minimum rate at 10% and higher versions of between 20% and as much as 49%. Oil prices took a dive after the announcement, predictions of a grim economic future multiplied, and countries around the world vowed to retaliate. It’s a game of tariffs with a twist: energy imports were exempted from the tariffs.
The Liberals, who were trailing Conservatives for years under former PM Trudeau, are now ahead in the opinion polls and widening the lead over Conservatives as the new Liberal leader Carney is seen as more capable than Poilievre of standing up to President Trump’s threats. If the six-point lead of the Liberals holds until Election Day, Carney could be able to form Canada’s first majority government in a decade
According to a White House fact sheet, steel, aluminum, gold and copper imports won’t be subject to reciprocal tariffs, providing at least some relief to domestic buyers who are already bearing the cost of Section 232 tariffs of 25% on all imports of some key metals. Gold, however, jumped as much as 1.1% to a record as investors sought safety following the tariff headlines. Bullion has climbed more than 20% this year after a ferocious run in 2024.
After a series of internal meetings at Iraq’s Oil Ministry over the past two weeks, talks with several international energy companies have begun with the aim of finally kickstarting developments on the country’s key non-associated gas fields, a senior source who works closely with the Ministry exclusively told OilPrice.com last week. “It’s finally sunk in that the jig’s up with the U.S. and Iran [Washington’s previous granting of waivers to Iraq to keep importing gas and electricity from Tehran], which means everyone’s now scrambling around trying to work out how they’re going increase gas output to levels that prevent rolling blackouts all year round,” the source said. “There are good options available to it [the Ministry], but they all have major political consequences attached, so the decisions in the coming weeks won’t be straightforward,” he added.
Over the past few weeks, the Trump administration has attempted to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, offering a glimmer of hope that the 3-year war could soon come to an end. The U.S. has held separate meetings with Russian and Ukrainian delegations in a bid to reach a lasting deal, but one particular OPEC member is finding itself in the crosshairs of the conflict despite the ongoing peace negotiations.
Instead, it’s all about oil. Trump has always been in the pocket of the US oil industry, while Russia is the world’s third-largest producer of fossil fuels. Russia is also the largest block of land in the Arctic, and it is known to hold vast and mostly untapped mineral wealth.