By Yuka Obayashi
TOKYO (Reuters) – Oil prices eased on Thursday after surging the day before as worries about the impact of intensifying tariff wars on global economic growth and energy demand outweighed the positive sentiment from a larger-than-expected draw in U.S. gasoline stocks.
Brent futures fell 7 cents, or 0.1%, to $70.88 a barrel by 0107 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures shed 11 cents, or 0.2%, to $67.57 a barrel.
Both benchmarks rallied about 2% on Wednesday as U.S. government data showed tighter-than-expected oil and fuel inventories.
U.S. crude stockpiles rose by 1.4 million barrels in the latest week, Energy Information Administration (EIA) data showed on Wednesday, which was less than the 2 million-barrel rise forecasters had expected. [EIA/S]
U.S. gasoline inventories fell by 5.7 million barrels, more than the 1.9 million-barrel draw expected by analysts, while distillate stocks also dropped more than anticipated.
The EIA data also showed that crude inventories in the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) rose to their highest level since 2022.
“Declining U.S. gasoline inventories raised expectations for a seasonal demand increase in spring, but concerns about the global economic impact of tariff wars weighed on the market,” said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, chief strategist of Nissan Securities Investment.
“With strong and weak factors progressing simultaneously, it has become difficult for the market to lean decisively in one direction or the other,” he added.
Donald Trump threatened on Wednesday to escalate a global trade war with further tariffs on European Union goods, as major U.S. trading partners said they would retaliate for trade barriers already erected by the U.S. president.
Trump’s hyper-focus on tariffs has rattled investors, consumers and business confidence and raised U.S. recession fears.
Meanwhile, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said on Wednesday that Kazakhstan led a sizeable jump in February crude output by the wider OPEC+, highlighting a challenge for the producer group in enforcing adherence to agreed output targets.
OPEC’s monthly report showed OPEC+, which includes OPEC, Russia and other allies, raised output in February by 363,000 barrels per day to 41.01 million bpd.
The group kept its forecasts for relatively strong growth in global oil demand in 2025.
“Trade concerns are expected to contribute to volatility as trade policies continue to be unveiled. However, the global economy is expected to adjust,” OPEC said.
(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
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