Oil edges down as traders weigh Trump's latest India threat
Brent traded near US$68 a barrel after shedding more than 6% over the previous three sessions, while West Texas Intermediate was just shy of US$66.
Trump said he would be "substantially raising' the tariff on Indian exports to the US over the nation's purchases of Russian oil as part of a bid to force Moscow to agree a truce in Ukraine.
New Delhi slammed the move as unjustified.
Oil has been on a round trip, rising a few dollars above $70 and then falling back, as traders try to gauge whether Trump will follow through on his threats to punish Russian oil buyers.
Crude prices have held up in recent months in part because inventory builds haven't appeared near vital pricing points and instead have been concentrated on China.
"It's pretty hard to predict what's going to happen between Russian sanctions, Iranian sanctions, Chinese storage, and then the underlying fundamentals of the oil markets," BP Plc Chief Executive Officer Murray Auchincloss said in a Bloomberg Television interview.
"It's sanctions on Russia, sanctions on Iran, Chinese behavior on storage. Those are the things that'll drive oil market prices moving forward.'
The US president's latest warning to India came ahead of his Aug 8 deadline for Russia to reach a truce with Ukraine.
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to visit Moscow on Wednesday, Tass reported.
India emerged as the biggest buyer of Russian seaborne exports of crude following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, soaking up discounted barrels shunned by western nations and ramping up purchases from almost zero to about one-third of imports.
China is also a major taker of Moscow's oil.
The comments came just days after the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies announced another bumper output hike, fully completing the return of one layer of supply cuts.
The group will now have to decide whether to return more barrels in the coming months, despite forecasts of oversupply into the end of the year.
Against that backdrop, both BP and Saudi Aramco said Tuesday that oil demand is holding up well so far.
Aramco's Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser said US tariffs are having a limited impact on oil demand, while consumption is being supported by gasoline and jet fuel use in the US and China. - Bloomberg
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Malay Mail
26 minutes ago
- Malay Mail
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The Star
26 minutes ago
- The Star
13MP: Strategic clarity in an age of disruption
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Building strength for a digital and industrial future A central theme of the 13MP is the development of Made by Malaysia products, anchored in existing policy documents such as the New Industrial Master Plan 2030. In addition to prioritising research, commercialisation and innovation, the 13MP supports high-growth sectors, aims to attract high-impact investments, and strengthens the nation's talent base. This ambition is writ large in the commitment to artificial intelligence and digital transformation. Malaysia must move beyond backend assembly in global value chains. The RM10bil investment by Nvidia, partnering Khazanah Nasional, reflects international confidence in Malaysia's capacity to become a regional pivot for high-performance computing, AI infrastructure and data governance. Yet, this is only a beginning. The 13MP envisions nurturing home-grown innovation, making domestic firms more competitive and equipping Malaysians for the technological frontier. 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