The price of Brent crude oil for September delivery concluded today on the London futures market with a decrease of 0.28%, settling at $68.52.
The North Sea crude, a European benchmark, ended the session at the Intercontinental Exchange trading 19 cents lower than the $68.71 closure on Tuesday.
This marked the third consecutive session decline for Brent, following an increase in U.S. fuel stocks and investor concerns around the impact of Donald Trump’s trade and monetary policies on the global economy, which subdued signs of rising oil demand.
Gasoline reserves in the U.S. rose by 3.4 million barrels last week, as reported by the Energy Information Administration, surprising analysts who had anticipated a decrease of one million barrels.
On another front, crude oil reserves dropped by 3.9 million barrels to 422.2 million, well above expectations.
Simultaneously, investors remain attentive to Trump’s decisions, despite a predominantly bearish sentiment, even though the deadline to conclude trade negotiations with partners was extended to August 1st.
In this scenario, Trump threatened Russia with high tariffs and further sanctions on Russian oil — as well as countries purchasing it, like India and China — if a peace agreement in Ukraine is not reached within 50 days.
Nevertheless, this did not alarm investors, and prices continued to decline. As analyst Fawad Razaqzada from StoneX stated in his weekly commentary, investors increasingly disregard Trump’s statements, considering his history of threats and last-minute changes of opinion.
