<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oil prices fell in Asian trade on Thursday, extending losses from the previous session as rising U.S. gasoline and distillate inventories raised fresh concerns about fuel demand, while a price cut from top exporter Saudi Arabia signaled potential softness in global consumption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At 23:14 ET (03:14 GMT), Brent crude futures for August delivery were down 0.2% at $64.75 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped 0.2% to $61.74 a barrel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a larger-than-expected draw of 4.3 million barrels<\/strong> in crude inventories last week, suggesting strong underlying demand or tightening supply. However, the bullish data was overshadowed by a surge in refined product stockpiles<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The buildup in fuel supplies comes ahead of the summer driving season, raising concerns that consumer demand may be underperforming<\/strong>, especially in light of softening labor market indicators<\/strong>. A weaker-than-expected private payrolls report earlier in the week reinforced fears of slowing economic momentum<\/strong> in the world\u2019s largest oil consumer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Oil markets remain cautious amid ongoing ambiguity surrounding U.S. trade policy. President Donald Trump\u2019s move to double tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to 50%<\/strong>, and the passing of a deadline<\/strong> for global trading partners to submit their \u201cbest offers\u201d without any new agreements, have further clouded the outlook for global trade and energy demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These developments have injected volatility into financial and commodity markets, as investors weigh the inflationary risks and broader economic fallout from potential tariff escalations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Adding to the downside pressure, Saudi Arabia slashed its July selling prices<\/strong> for Asian buyers to a two-month low, according to a Reuters report. The decision comes just days after the latest OPEC+ meeting<\/strong>, where the cartel agreed to maintain modest production increases in July, in line with trends from previous months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The price cut from Riyadh signals that demand conditions in Asia\u2014home to the largest pool of oil importers\u2014remain subdued<\/strong>. Analysts also noted that the move may be aimed at disciplining overproduction by other OPEC members<\/strong> and defending Saudi Arabia\u2019s market share<\/strong> in a competitive global market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite recent gains driven by escalating military tensions between Russia and Ukraine<\/strong> and growing signs of a breakdown in U.S.-Iran nuclear talks<\/strong>, oil prices are now struggling to maintain upward momentum amid deteriorating demand signals and renewed pricing competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Market participants are also betting that geopolitical instability could still lead to tighter global oil supplies in 2025<\/strong>, though near-term sentiment is being dictated by inventory trends and economic data<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With traders now turning their focus to Friday\u2019s U.S. nonfarm payrolls report<\/strong>, the health of the American labor market could be a key determinant for near-term oil price direction. A stronger-than-expected print may restore some confidence in demand resilience, while another downside surprise could deepen fears of an economic slowdown\u2014and with it, softer energy consumption.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Oil prices fell in Asian trade on Thursday, extending losses from the previous session as rising U.S. gasoline and distillate inventories raised fresh concerns about fuel demand, while a price cut from top exporter Saudi Arabia signaled potential softness in global consumption. At 23:14 ET (03:14 GMT), Brent crude futures for August delivery were down …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":105432,"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":[38,6827,49,36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-commodities-news","category-daily-economic-reports","category-economic-reports","category-market-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115153","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=115153"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115153\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":115154,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115153\/revisions\/115154"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\n\n\n\nTrade Policy Uncertainty Weighs on Sentiment<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nSaudi Arabia Cuts July Oil Prices for Asia<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nGeopolitical Risks Provide Limited Support<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nOutlook<\/h3>\n\n\n\n