Oil Turns Lower After Trump Demands Lower Prices

Investing.com – Crude prices turned lower on Thursday, after U.S. President Donald Trump took another swipe at global oil producers.

was down 0.1% at $70.69 a barrel at 8:25 AM ET (12:25 GMT), pulling back from a ten-week high of $71.34 touched earlier.

Meanwhile, global benchmark was down by 0.5% at $78.97.

Trump tweeted that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) needs to keep crude prices lower because of the military protection the U.S. provides for the region.

“The OPEC monopoly must get prices down now,” Trump .

The cartel, which includes Saudi Arabia and Iran, will meet in Algeria on Sunday with non-OPEC producers such as Russia to discuss production levels.

Under pressure from the U.S. president, OPEC, Russia and other allies agreed in June to boost production by 1 million barrels per day (bpd), having participated in a supply-cutting deal since 2017.

OPEC sources say for any official action this weekend, although pressure is mounting on top producers to prevent a spike in oil prices ahead of new U.S. sanctions on Iran.

Iran is the third-biggest producer in OPEC, supplying around 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude and condensate to markets this year, equivalent to around 2.5% of global consumption.

Crude exports from the Islamic Republic are down by almost a third since April, sliding below 2 million bpd in August and continuing to deteriorate in the first half of September.

Washington wants to cut Iran’s oil exports to zero and is encouraging producers such as Saudi Arabia, other OPEC members and Russia to pump more to meet the shortfall.

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