{"id":114164,"date":"2025-04-30T09:21:41","date_gmt":"2025-04-30T05:21:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/?p=114164"},"modified":"2025-04-30T09:21:43","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T05:21:43","slug":"oil-prices-set-for-worst-monthly-decline-since-2021-as-trade-war-and-supply-fears-mount","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/oil-prices-set-for-worst-monthly-decline-since-2021-as-trade-war-and-supply-fears-mount\/04\/30\/market-updates\/","title":{"rendered":"Oil Prices Set for Worst Monthly Decline Since 2021 as Trade War and Supply Fears Mount"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oil prices continued their sharp decline on Wednesday, deepening a rout that has pushed both Brent and WTI crude toward their worst monthly performance in over three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Brent crude<\/strong> fell <strong>72 cents<\/strong> (<strong>-1.12%<\/strong>) to <strong>$63.53<\/strong> per barrel (as of 04:04 GMT).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>WTI crude<\/strong> dropped <strong>70 cents<\/strong> (<strong>-1.16%<\/strong>) to <strong>$59.71<\/strong> per barrel.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>So far in <strong>April<\/strong>, Brent and WTI have fallen <strong>15%<\/strong> and <strong>16%<\/strong> respectively \u2014 their largest monthly percentage drops since <strong>November 2021<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Global Trade War Crushing Demand Outlook<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Crude markets have been under relentless pressure since <strong>President Donald Trump<\/strong> announced sweeping <strong>tariffs on all U.S. imports<\/strong> on <strong>April 2<\/strong>, a move that stunned global markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>China swiftly retaliated, sparking a <strong>full-scale trade war<\/strong> between the <strong>world&#8217;s top two oil consumers<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>As a result, demand forecasts have plummeted.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Latest data highlights the damage:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>China\u2019s factory activity<\/strong> shrank at its <strong>fastest pace in 16 months<\/strong> in April.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>U.S. consumer confidence<\/strong> fell to a <strong>near five-year low<\/strong> on Tuesday, amid growing concerns over tariff-induced inflation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Short-Lived Optimism on Tariff Easing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>While Trump signed executive orders this week to <strong>ease the impact of auto tariffs<\/strong>, and claimed that trade talks were progressing, the lack of <strong>clear commitments from China<\/strong> has kept markets on edge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most analysts remain skeptical that <strong>recent softening in rhetoric<\/strong> will be enough to reverse the demand hit already underway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">OPEC+ Supply Concerns Add Pressure<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Compounding the demand outlook are concerns that <strong>OPEC+<\/strong> may <strong>raise output again<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Sources told <strong>Reuters<\/strong> last week that multiple members of the alliance will propose <strong>another production hike<\/strong> in <strong>June<\/strong>, following the surprise boost in May.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The group is scheduled to meet on <strong>May 5<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>This has raised alarms about a potential <strong>supply glut<\/strong>, particularly as demand is weakening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">U.S. Inventories Rise Sharply<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Adding further bearish pressure:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>U.S. crude inventories<\/strong> rose by <strong>3.8 million barrels<\/strong> last week, according to data from the <strong>American Petroleum Institute<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Official stockpile data from the <strong>Energy Information Administration (EIA)<\/strong> is due later today and will be closely watched.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Summary<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Oil prices are on track for their <strong>biggest monthly loss in over three years<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Global demand fears, fueled by the <strong>U.S.-China trade war<\/strong>, are the central bearish driver.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Rising inventories<\/strong> and <strong>potential OPEC+ supply increases<\/strong> are deepening the downside pressure.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Even with minor tariff adjustments from Trump, the market remains unconvinced of a true resolution.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Oil prices continued their sharp decline on Wednesday, deepening a rout that has pushed both Brent and WTI crude toward their worst monthly performance in over three years. Brent crude fell 72 cents (-1.12%) to $63.53 per barrel (as of 04:04 GMT). WTI crude dropped 70 cents (-1.16%) to $59.71 per barrel. So far in &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":60920,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,6827,49,37,36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-commodities-news","category-daily-economic-reports","category-economic-reports","category-forex-markets","category-market-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114164"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114164\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":114165,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114164\/revisions\/114165"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}