Oil falls on US-China trade war and Opec’s likelihood of increasing supply
Equities and commodities fall as Trump threatens more tariffs and China plans duty on US oil imports in response, as some Opec members push for oil output increase
New York — Oil fell on Tuesday ahead of a possible increase in oil cartel Opec crude supply, and as an escalating trade dispute between the US and China unleashed sharp sell-offs in many global markets. Brent crude futures eased 60c, or 0.8%, to $74.74 a barrel by 3.31pm GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell $1.01, or 1.6%, to $64.84 a barrel. "WTI is more vulnerable to spillover from today’s hard sell-off in global equities than is Brent as the differential between the two benchmarks has stretched back to above $10 a barrel," Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch and Associates in Galena, Illinois, said in a note. "Brent is being relatively supported this week by increasing concerns over lost Libyan supply in which as much as 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) of output has been impacted by an attack on two key terminals," he wrote. Both benchmarks are being dragged down by the escalating trade conflict between the US and China. The two countries are threate...
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