DOHA: Brent and US crude futures fell on Friday as US President Donald Trump’s threat to impose increased tariffs on China cast a shadow over the demand outlook in a market seen as oversupplied. Brent crude futures settled at $62.73 while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude finished at $58.90. For the week, Brent fell by 2.8% and WTI fell by 3.3%, noted Al-Attiyah Foundation in its Weekly Energy Market Review.
Production increases from OPEC, additional output gains in North and South America, and loss of geopolitical risk after the Gaza ceasefire agreement are all factors that can be layered on top of Trump’s announcement of tariffs on China, analysts said.
Israel and Hamas signed a ceasefire agreement on Thursday in the first phase of Trump’s initiative to end the war in Gaza. The Gaza ceasefire deal means the focus can move back to the impending oil surplus.
Asian spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices rose last week, gaining for the first time in nearly a month, on colder-than-expected weather in Europe and following Russian strikes on Ukrainian gas infrastructure ahead of winter. The average LNG price for November delivery into north-east Asia was at $11.00 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), up from $10.60 per mmBtu last week.
The Asian market is still weak. LNG demand in other markets like the Middle East and Latin America are also on decline in line with seasonality patterns.
In Europe, the Dutch TTF price settled at $10.87 per mmBtu, recording a weekly gain of 0.7%, due to the colder weather and the recent Russia-Ukraine escalation, which knocked out around 30% of Ukrainian gas production.
