By Arunima Kumar
(Reuters) -Oil prices edged lower Wednesday on a rise in U.S. crude stockpiles and easing concern over Libyan supply, with U.S. tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports also in focus.
Brent crude futures were down 37 cents, or 0.48%, at $77.12 a barrel by 1246 GMT. U.S. crude futures lost 33 cents, or 0.45%, to $73.44.
The White House said on Tuesday that U.S. President Donald Trump still plans to impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico on Saturday.
“Crude prices keep dancing to the rhythm of Trump’s tariff orchestra, with Canada tariffs going into effect on Saturday, potentially lifting U.S. prices then,” said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank.
Canada supplied 3.9 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil to the U.S. in 2023, roughly half of overall imports for the year, while Mexico supplied 733,000 bpd, Energy Information Administration (EIA) data shows.
“Overall prices trade a tad softer after Libya said exports have resumed and API reported a weekly increase in U.S. stockpiles. In addition, OPEC+ is expected to stick to its already announced production increase from April,” said Hansen.
U.S. crude oil and gasoline stocks rose last week while distillate inventories fell, market sources said on Tuesday, citing American Petroleum Institute figures. [API/S]
The EIA, the statistical arm of the U.S. Department of Energy, is due to release weekly data at 1530 GMT on Wednesday. [EIA/S]
Supply concerns eased after Libya’s National Oil Corp said on Tuesday that export activity was running normally after it held talks with protesters demanding a halt in loadings at one its main oil ports.
The OPEC+ Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) meeting next Monday will be another source of ambiguity in the worryingly unpredictable political and economic environment, said Tamas Varga, analyst at oil broker PVM.
Saudi Arabia’s energy minister and several of his OPEC+ counterparts have held talks since Trump’s call for lower oil prices and ahead of a meeting next week of OPEC+ oil-producing countries, according to official statements and sources.
“(Trump’s) objective is to force Russia, one of the allies of Saudi Arabia and the heavyweight in the OPEC+ group, to the negotiating table to end its hostilities against Ukraine,” Varga said, adding that Trump intends to do this by lowering oil prices through increased production, hopefully lowering inflation and domestic pump prices in the process.
(Reporting by Arunima KumarAdditional reporting by Naveen Thukral and Yuka ObayashiEditing by Jason Neely and David Goodman)
