MW Oil prices on track for February losses on worries over tariffs, economic outlook

By William Watts

Oil futures fell Friday and were on track for a monthly loss, with crude seeing pressure in February on worries about the global economic outlook and rising trade tensions from the Trump administration's tariff plans.

Price moves

-- West Texas Intermediate crude CL00 for April delivery CL.1 CLJ25 fell $1.01, or 1.4%, to $69.34 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

-- April Brent crude BRNJ25, the global benchmark, was down $1.01, or 1.4%, at $73.03 a barrel. The more actively traded May contract BRN00 BRNK25 was down 91 cents, or 1.2%, at $72.66 a barrel,

Market drivers

Oil bounced Thursday, a day after President Trump said he was revoking a license issued by the Biden administration that had allowed Chevron Corp. $(CVX)$ to produce oil in Venezuela.

WTI and Brent settled Wednesday at their lowest marks since Dec. 10, with recent pressure tied to worries that proposed tariffs by the Trump administration will undercut global growth. Weak consumer-confidence readings in the U.S. have also raised worries about the health of the consumer.

"The fundamental outlook for oil has deteriorated amid growing uncertainties about the health of the global economy and given the looming unknowns of the Trump administration's aggressive global policy stance and fears of a drop in consumer demand," strategists at Sevens Report Research said in a note.

Critical technical support for WTI between $66 and $69 a barrel remains intact, but is beginning to be more urgently tested by bearish short sellers, they wrote.

-William Watts

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 28, 2025 07:45 ET (12:45 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.