NEW YORK- Oil prices fell on Friday on worries that US tariff wars could spark a global recession, but gained for a third consecutive week after Washington ratcheted up pressure on OPEC members Venezuela and Iran.
Brent crude futures fell 40 cents, or 0.5 percent to settle at $73.63 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) fell 56 cents, or 0.8 percent, to close at $69.36 a barrel.
US President Donald Trump plans to announce reciprocal tariffs targeting a wide range of imports, effective on April 2.
The trade war has investors worried about a potential recession, JPMorgan analysts told clients.
“Concerns about a trade war, coupled with elevated US policy uncertainty, are weighing heavily on sentiment,” they said.
Although recession risk was elevated, high-frequency oil demand indicators have held up relatively well for now, JPMorgan noted.
Mid-week data from the Energy Information Administration showed US crude inventories fell by 3.3 million barrels to 433.6 million barrels last week, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 956,000-barrel draw.
On a weekly basis, Brent futures gained 1.9 percent, while WTI rose 1.6 percent. Since hitting multi-month lows in early March, Brent is up more than 7 percent, and WTI has rebounded over 6 percent.
