Oil falls after Trump presses OPEC to make up for Iranian sanctions
Oil prices fell on Monday, extending a slump from Friday that ended weeks of rallying, after President Donald Trump demanded that producer club OPEC raise output to soften the impact of U.S. sanctions against Iran, Reuters reports.
Brent crude futures were at $71.66 per barrel at 0648 GMT, down 49 cents, or 0.7 percent, from their last close.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $62.87 per barrel, down 43 cents, or 0.7 percent, from their previous settlement.
Both benchmarks fell around 3 percent in the previous session.
ANZ bank said on Monday oil prices “took a hit after President Trump indicated he had spoken with Saudi Arabia about reducing the impact of lower Iranian oil exports by increasing flows elsewhere.”
Trump said on Friday he called the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and told the cartel to lower oil prices.
“Gasoline prices are coming down. I called up OPEC, I said you’ve got to bring them down. You’ve got to bring them down,” Trump told reporters.