Oil prices fall due to concerns over US-China trade tensions

Photo caption — People fill up their vehicles at a gas station in Plano, Texas, USA. Photo: THX/TTXVN

At 7:32 a.m. (Vietnam time), Brent crude futures fell 24 cents (0.4%) to $61.05 a barrel. Meanwhile, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 21 cents (0.4%) to $57.33 a barrel, failing to maintain the upward momentum of the previous weekend session on October 17.

Both oil benchmarks fell more than 2% last week, marking a third consecutive weekly decline, largely due to the International Energy Agency's (IEA) forecast of a growing supply glut by 2026.

Analyst Toshitaka Tazawa of Fujitomi Securities said that selling pressure increased due to concerns about oversupply, stemming from increased production by oil-producing countries, while the economic outlook became gloomy due to escalating US-China trade tensions. He also said that the US's increased pressure on countries importing Russian oil, along with the upcoming summit between President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin, made the market unpredictable, and some investors also had difficulty making appropriate adjustments.

Last week, World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala called on the US and China to cool trade tensions, warning that if the world's two largest economies decoupled, global economic output could fall by 7% in the long term.

Meanwhile, on October 17, US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to hold another summit on the conflict in Ukraine, as the US continues to pressure India and China to stop buying Russian oil.

Regarding supply, according to a report on October 18 by energy services company Baker Hughes, the number of oil and natural gas rigs in the US increased again last week, the first increase after three consecutive weeks of decline.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/thi-truong-tien-te/gia-dau-giam-do-lo-ngai-cang-thang-thuong-mai-my-trung-20251020111105964.htm