(Investing) – Oil prices rose Friday, on course to snap three straight weeks of losses amid relief that U.S. President Donald Trump did not immediately impose reciprocal tariffs as initially threatened.
At 09:10 ET (14:10 GMT), Brent oil futures expiring in April rose 0.3% to $75.24 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 0.2% to $71.43 a barrel.
Both benchmark contracts were trading up around 1% this week, and were set to snap three straight weeks of losses.
Oil heads for weekly gains on trade relief
Gains in crude came as President Trump signed an executive order to explore reciprocal tariffs on major U.S. trading partners, although this is only expected to result in tariff action by April.
The move offered some relief to oil markets from concerns of a trade war, which could disrupt global trade and economic growth, denting demand for crude.
Oil was also sitting on gains from earlier this week after Trump reiterated his plans to rebuild Gaza, drawing ire from several Middle Eastern powers.
Additionally, crude took mild support from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries keeping its 2025, 2026 demand forecasts steady, after cutting them several times in 2024.
Russia-Ukraine peace talks in focus
Despite some gains this week, oil prices were still pressured by increased speculation over an end to the Russia-Ukraine war.
President Trump claimed that both Russian and Ukrainian heads of state had expressed hopes for peace in separate calls with him, and that he had instructed top U.S. policymakers to begin discussing peace talks.
Reports said China was seeking to host a potential peace summit.
An end to the nearly three-year war could eventually result in the lifting of strict U.S. sanctions on Russian oil.
Russian oil exports could be sustained if workarounds to the latest U.S. sanctions package are found, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its latest oil market report.
Such a scenario stands to ramp up global supplies, which, coupled with sluggish demand in top importer China, could weigh on oil prices.
Additionally, crude markets were also pressured by concerns over high for longer U.S. interest rates, following a batch of stronger-than-expected inflation prints from the country this week.
(Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)
