By Ed Ballard
Oil prices slid Friday, after a plan to increase supply by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies added to fears that global tariffs will hit demand.
-- Brent crude, the global benchmark, slid nearly 5% to under $67 a barrel.
-- West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. equivalent, dropped roughly 5% to under $64.
In an unexpected move, eight OPEC+ countries said Thursday they will increase output by 411,000 barrels a day next month.
Even before President Trump's latest sweeping tariffs, the escalating trade war was stoking fears of a global slowdown in economic activity that would erode demand. The possibility of a settlement of the war between Russia and Ukraine has raised the prospect of more Russian oil being exported.
"The two factors that previously limited downside risk to prices, that is low recession risk and OPEC's preference for low production" when Brent neared $70 a barrel, are no longer in place, Goldman Sachs analysts said.
They reduced their price forecast for Brent to an average of $69 a barrel in 2025, from $73. They cut WTI to $66, from $69.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 04, 2025 06:48 ET (10:48 GMT)
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