MW Oil prices extend drop sparked by OPEC+ plan to boost output

By William Watts

Oil futures fell Tuesday, building on losses seen in the previous session after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies said they would proceed with plans to unwind some production curbs in April.

Worries over the economic outlook were also seen as a weight on crude prices as U.S. tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China take effect and investors brace for retaliation.

Price moves

-- West Texas Intermediate crude CL00 for April delivery CL.1 CLJ25 fell 96 cents, or 1.4%, to $67.43 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

-- May Brent crude BRN00 BRNK25, the global benchmark, was down $1.19, or 1.7%, at $70.43 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.

Market drivers

OPEC+ members on Monday said it would go ahead with a plan to boost production starting April 1 by gradually unwinding its voluntary production cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day.

"The market had been pricing in the possibility that the group might delay an increase in supply," Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey, commodity strategists at ING, said in a note. "This development hasn't changed our view on the market, as we already thought supply would return."

Along with supply dynamics, there are growing concerns about demand levels amid uncertainty about tariffs, the strategists said.

In retaliation, China announced Tuesday it would impose additional tariffs of up to 15% on imports of key U.S. farm products, including chicken, pork, soy and beef, and expanded controls on doing business with U.S. companies. Canada is also preparing to implement retaliatory tariffs.

- The Associated Press contributed to this article.

-William Watts

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March 04, 2025 08:00 ET (13:00 GMT)

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