Oil prices remained somewhat depressed today following a jump on Tuesday as protesters in Libya threatened to block crude oil exports via two terminals in the Oil Crescent. After the state oil company talked to the protesters, it said exports were running at normal rates.
“(Oil) operations are proceeding without interruption across all fields and ports, subsequent to discussions held with protesters who conducted a demonstration this morning at the ports of (Es Sider) and Ras Lanuf,” the National Oil Corporation said in a statement on Tuesday, as quoted by Reuters.
Prices meanwhile have been getting some support from expectations of U.S. tariffs on Canada and Mexico that would make crude oil costlier. Trump threatened to slap tariffs on both U.S. neighbors on his first day in office and has not reconsidered this plan since despite retaliatory threats from Canada that it would suspend vital energy exports to the northeastern states.
The U.S. president has said he would slap a 25% tariff on all goods imported from Canada and Mexico as punishment for illegal immigration and fentanyl smuggling. The tariff is supposed to come into effect on February 1st. Critics have warned that this would interfere with Trump’s promise to keep fuel prices affordable for Americans. Canada is the biggest supplier of imported crude oil to the U.S.
Both Mexico and Canada have threatened retaliation for any tariffs, leading some Trump critics to suggestthe tariff idea may do more harm than good given the size of the stakes in the trade game with the neighbors.
“Investors are trying to assess the impact of Trump’s tariff policy,” Nomura Securities analyst Yuki Takashima told Reuters. “Some traders also adjusted positions in response to the turbulence in financial markets caused by the DeepSeek shock,” she added.
Oilprice.com