Oil falls on lower demand outlook

Oil slipped during early Asian trading on Tuesday. Investors cut their crude demand outlook due to the ongoing trade confrontation between the US and China, the world’s leading economies, Reuters reports. 

A majority of economists polled by the news agency believe US President Donald Trump’s import tariffs have created a risk of the global economy slipping into a recession in 2025.

China, facing the highest duties, has imposed retaliatory tariffs on imports of US goods, adding to trade tensions between the world’s two biggest oil consuming countries. That has forced analysts to sharply lower their crude demand outlook, Reuters says. 

Barclays has also cut its Brent price forecast by $4 to $70 per barrel. Moreover, the company predicts an oil supply surplus of 1 million barrels per day this year due to increased production by the OPEC+ group.

Meanwhile, according to a preliminary Reuters survey of analysts, US crude inventories rose by 500,000 barrels in the week to April 15.