Oil prices ease from two-week highs as investors await tariff clarity
Brent crude futures were down 20 cents, or 0.3%, at $69.95 a barrel by 0121 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 21 cents, or 0.4%, to $68.12 a barrel.
U.S. President Donald Trump's latest tariff delay provided some hope to major trade partners Japan, South Korea and the European Union that deals to ease duties could still be reached, while bewildering some smaller exporters such as South Africa and leaving companies with no clarity on the path forward.
Trump pushed back Wednesday's previous deadline to August 1, a date he said on Tuesday was final, declaring: "No extensions will be granted."
He also said he would impose a 50% tariff on imported copper and soon introduce long-threatened levies on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals, broadening his trade war that has rattled markets worldwide.
While the tariffs have prompted worries of oil demand destruction, strong travel demand for the July 4th weekend buoyed hopes.
A record 72.2 million Americans were projected to travel more than 50 miles (80 km) for Fourth of July vacations, data from travel group AAA showed last week.
On the supply side, the U.S. will produce less oil in 2025 than previously expected as declining oil prices have prompted U.S. producers to slow activity this year, the Energy Information Administration forecast on Tuesday in a monthly report.
The world's largest oil producer is projected to produce 13.37 million barrels per day of oil in 2025, versus last month's forecast of 13.42 million bpd, the EIA said in its short-term energy outlook report. In 2026, the U.S. will produce 13.37 million bpd, in line with the previous forecast.
OPEC+ oil producers are, on the other hand, set to approve another big output boost for September as they complete both the unwinding of voluntary production cuts by eight members and the United Arab Emirates' move to a larger quota, five sources said. On Saturday, the group approved a 548,000 bpd jump for August.
However, the actual output increase has been smaller than the announced levels so far and most of the supply has been from Saudi Arabia, analysts said.
Meanwhile, geopolitical tensions remained, providing a floor for prices. Four seafarers on the Liberian-flagged, Greek-operated bulk carrier Eternity C were killed in a drone and speedboat attack off Yemen, an official with knowledge of the issue said on Tuesday, the second incident in a day after months of calm.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
17 minutes ago
- Reuters
Indonesia, US eye wider critical minerals partnership after 'positive' meeting, top negotiator says
JAKARTA, July 10 (Reuters) - Indonesia's meeting with United States representatives in Washington on the looming tariffs went "positively", its chief negotiator said on Thursday, with both countries exploring a wider partnership in the critical minerals sector. Southeast Asia's largest economy Indonesia is facing a 32% tariff imposed by the U.S. from August 1, highlighting its strategic importance in global trade to lower it. Chief negotiator and economic minister Airlangga Hartarto told Reuters that he met with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Washington on Wednesday. Airlangga's ministry said on Thursday that the talk covered tariffs, non-tariff barriers and commercial partnerships, adding that both countries will intensify talks over the next three weeks. "We already have a similar understanding with the U.S. regarding the talks. In the future, we will make an effort to wrap up these negotiations on the principle of mutual benefit," Airlangga said in the statement. Indonesia and the United States are eyeing a wider partnership in the former's critical minerals sector, with Airlangga's ministry citing the country's large reserves of nickel, copper and cobalt. G20 economy Indonesia is a major producer of metals such as nickel, tin and copper, and is also the world's biggest exporter of palm oil. In the tariff talks, Indonesia has proposed slashing its duties on American products to near zero and offered to increase U.S. purchases and investment in the country, amounting to a value of about $34 billion. Several Indonesian companies have recently signed initial deals with U.S. counterparts to increase purchases of energy supplies, wheat, corn and cotton, among others.
Reuters
17 minutes ago
- Reuters
European grid investment plans face 250 billion euro shortfall
LONDON, July 10 (Reuters) - The European electricity transmission system operator's (TSO) investment plans to upgrade and expand power grids over the next five years face a 250 billion euro ($293 billion) shortfall, a report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) said on Thursday. At the end of April, Spain and Portugal lost power in their worst blackout. Last week there was a power outage in large parts of the Czech Republic. Such incidents have added to concerns about the resilience of Europe's electricity system. Increased electrification, power demand growth from AI and data centres, renewables integration and ageing infrastructure mean that Europe's grids need a massive overhaul. The report did not provide detail on subsidies some grid operators might receive. Some TSOs can receive subsidies through EU funding programmes or member state initiatives. Europe's 15 largest TSOs are expected to increase operating cash flow to 120 billion euros from 2025-2029, up from 57 billion euros for 2020-2024, the report said. They plan to triple capital investment to 345 billion euros over the next five years. Assuming dividends between 25 billion and 30 billion euros would also need to be paid, this would leave a funding gap of about 250 billion euros, the report said. This would need to be plugged through debt, equity, divestitures or lower dividends, the report added. Europe needs to build more grid infrastructure over the next five years than it has over the past two decades, the report said. Balance sheets of TSOs are under strain. Many are operating with high debt and publicly traded TSOs are struggling to raise equity in the face of fierce competition. "Without rapid innovation in how we finance grid infrastructure, Europe risks having world-class renewable generation that can't reach consumers because the grid hasn't kept pace," said Tom Brijs, BCG partner and co-author of the report. ($1 = 0.8528 euros)
The Guardian
28 minutes ago
- The Guardian
US issues sanctions against Francesca Albanese, UN official investigating abuses in Gaza
The Trump administration announced on Wednesday it was issuing sanctions against an independent official tasked with investigating human rights abuses in the Palestinian territories, the latest effort by the United States to punish critics of Israel's 21-month war in Gaza. The state department's decision to sanction Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur for the West Bank and Gaza, comes after a recent US pressure campaign to force the international body to remove her from her post failed. Albanese, a human rights lawyer, has been vocal in calling for an end to what she describes as the 'genocide' that Israel is waging against Palestinians in Gaza. Both Israel and the US, which provides military support, have strongly denied that accusation. Israel has faced accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice and of war crimes at the ICC over its devastating military assault on Gaza. Albanese's position has also been backed by leading genocide scholars and rights organisations. In a post on X late on Wednesday, Albanese wrote that she stood 'firmly and convincingly on the side of justice, as I have always done,' without directly mentioning the US sanctions. In a text message to Al Jazeera, she was quoted as dismissing the US move as 'mafia style intimidation techniques.' In recent weeks, Albanese has issued a series of letters, urging other countries to pressure Israel, including through sanctions, to end its deadly bombardment of the Gaza Strip. The Italian national has also been a strong supporter of the international criminal court's indictment of Israeli officials, including the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, for war crimes. She most recently issued a report naming several US giants among companies aiding what she described as Israel's occupation and war on Gaza. 'Albanese's campaign of political and economic warfare against the United States and Israel will no longer be tolerated,' the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, posted on social media. 'We will always stand by our partners in their right to self-defense.' Albanese has been the target of criticism from pro-Israel officials and groups in the US and in the Middle East. Last week, the US mission to the UN issued a scathing statement, calling for her removal for 'a years-long pattern of virulent antisemitism and unrelenting anti-Israel bias'. The statement said that Albanese's allegations of Israel committing genocide or apartheid are 'false and offensive'. It is the culmination of an extraordinary and sprawling campaign of nearly six months by the Trump administration to quell criticism of Israel's handling of the deadly war in Gaza, which is closing in on two years. Earlier this year, the Trump administration began arresting and deporting faculty and students of American universities who participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations and other political activities. Rights experts slammed the US sanctions against Albanese. Dylan Williams, vice-president for government affairs at the Center for International Policy thinktank, labeled them as 'rogue state behavior' while Amnesty International said special rapporteurs must be supported and not sanctioned. 'Governments around the world and all actors who believe in the rule-based order and international law must do everything in their power to mitigate and block the effect of the sanctions against Francesca Albanese and more generally to protect the work and independence of Special Rapporteurs,' Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International's secretary general and a former UN special rapporteur herself, said. The war between Israel and Hamas began on 7 October 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel and killed nearly 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 people captive. Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, which says women and children make up most of the dead but does not specify how many were fighters or civilians. The number is widely believed to be a huge underestimate. Nearly 21 months into the conflict that displaced the vast majority of Gaza's 2.3 million people, it is nearly impossible for the critically wounded to get the care they need, doctors and aid workers say. 'We must stop this genocide, whose short-term goal is completing the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, while also profiteering from the killing machine devised to perform it,' Albanese said in a recent post on X. 'No one is safe until everyone is safe.' With Associated Press and Reuters
