Oil Prices Slump Amid Rising Trade Concerns

Investing.com – Oil prices slumped on Friday as the possibility of increased OPEC production and trade war concerns weighed on investor sentiment.

decreased 1.45% to $65.92 a barrel as of 10:02 AM ET (14:02 GMT). Meanwhile futures, the benchmark for oil prices outside the U.S., slumped 1.83% to $74.55.

U.S. President Donald Trump on $50 billion of Chinese goods on Friday, with China threatening to respond.

The two largest economies in the world have been in a tit-for-tat over global trade tariffs in recent months as the two struggle to reconcile their trade differences. The tariffs have increased chances of a full-blown global trade war as the European Union and Canada have voted to retaliate against U.S. metal tariffs.

Meanwhile the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia countries is set to meet in Vienna on June 22 and will discuss a possible supply increase of one million barrels per day, as OPEC faces losses from Venezuela and Iran.

After a meeting with the Saudi Arabia energy minister on Thursday, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that both of the countries agreed that production levels should increase.

Total production of OPEC countries rose by 35,000 barrels per day (bpd) in May to 31.87 million bpd, according to its monthly report.

OPEC has been cutting crude output by 1.8 million bpd to prop up oil prices. The pact began in January 2017 and is set to expire at the end of 2018.

Traders are also looking ahead to the weekingly for any indication of increasing U.S. supply.

In other energy trading, decreased 1.77% at $2.0565 a gallon, while fell 1.73% to $2.1214 a gallon. were up 1.52% to $3.010 per million British thermal units.

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