Oil prices rose during Asian trade on Tuesday, recovering slightly after steep declines to four-year lows in recent sessions amid rising fears that U.S. trade tariffs could trigger a global recession and weaken energy demand.
By 3:20 pm AEST (5:20 am GMT) Brent crude futures climbed $0.90, or 1.4%, to $65.11 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for June delivery rose $0.82, or 1.4%, to $61.26.
The gains followed a 2% drop on Monday that pushed oil prices close to their lowest levels in nearly four years. Investors have grown increasingly concerned that U.S. President Donald Trump’s broad-based tariffs could stifle global economic activity and cut into fuel consumption.
The tariffs, which start at 10% on all U.S. imports and rise to as high as 50% on certain goods, have also prompted retaliatory action from major trade partners.
China, the world’s second-largest economy, announced its own round of countermeasures. Trump responded by threatening even higher tariffs if Beijing does not retract its plans.
Meanwhile, ANZ analysts commented on the recent unexpected production increase from some OPEC producers.
"Over the weekend, Saudi Arabia slashed the price of its key Arab Light crude to Asia by the most since 2022. This comes as the market tries to make sense of the unexpected move by several OPEC producers to increase their planned production hikes.
“A coalition of producers led by Saudi Arabia announced they would increase supply by nearly 0.5mb/d in May, three times the original plan. The move appears to be driven by the desire to punish members who have been overproducing against their agreed quotas.”
