Oil Holds Near Yearly Low With US Tariffs and Supplies in Focus

(Bloomberg) -- Oil steadied near the lowest close this year, with tariff threats from US President Donald Trump and supply issues in focus.

Brent crude traded below $73 a barrel after losing 3% in the prior two sessions, with West Texas Intermediate near $69. Trump said planned tariffs against Mexico and Canada were “not stopping,” although the timing wasn’t clear. Levies against the European Union were also on the cards, he said.

Crude is on pace for its biggest monthly loss since September as the brewing trade wars between the US and its trading partners cloud the economic outlook. That anxiety has eclipsed the possible lifts from tighter sanctions against Iran — a scenario Trafigura Group flagged as the biggest upside risk — and the likelihood OPEC+ will again delay the restart of shuttered production.

Also on the supply front, President Trump said he planned to revoke Chevron Corp.’s oil license to operate in Venezuela, threatening the nation’s recovery. In the Middle East, meanwhile, Iraq said that it had reached a pact with Kurdistan to resume crude exports, without providing a time frame.

On Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will visit the US on Friday, President Trump said. That comes as the US makes headway on discussions to end the three-year war between Moscow and Kyiv, a potential shift that could spur a loosening of sanctions on Russian flows.

“The rising prospects of a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia remains a key overhang, with any deal potentially seeing an influx of Russian oil supplies into the market,” said Yeap Jun Rong, market strategist at IG Asia Pte in Singapore. In addition, soft US economic data and uncertainty on tariffs haven’t done prices much of a favor either, he said.

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