Oil fell 2% toward $58 a barrel on Thursday, extending the previous session’s 3% drop, pressured by mounting recession in the United States and and a surprise boost in U.S. crude inventories, Reuters reports.
Last week, oil prices rallied in response to indications from Saudi Arabia and the so-called OPEC+ group that it would work with suppliers to ensure a balanced market. But downward pressure this week from potential fallout from President Trump’s trade war with China as well as higher-than-normal inventories in the U.S. are threatening to further erode the gains in oil prices made in 2019.
The price of Brent is still up 10% this year, thanks mostly to supply cuts led by OPEC+.
Meanwhile, as CNBC reports, Saudi Arabia’s crude shipments to China have doubled in the span of a year, while during the same period, the Kingdom’s oil exports to the U.S. have dropped by nearly two-thirds.
