Oil prices were little changed in Asian trade on Tuesday as investors weighed President Donald Trump's plan to impose new tariffs later than expected while boosting U.S. oil and gas production, Reuters reported.
According to a survey at 2:18 p.m. on January 21 (Vietnam time), Brent oil price was at 80 USD/barrel, down 0.15 USD, equivalent to a decrease of 0.19%. WTI oil price was at 76.43 USD/barrel, up 0.04 USD, equivalent to an increase of 0.05%.
“The market needs a lot of moving information this morning, mainly from headlines, which is typical of the Trump 2.0 era,” said Yeap Jun Rong, market strategist at IG.
“The initial sense of relief that trade measures were not an immediate focus on Trump’s ‘day one’ was quickly erased by reports of 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada from February, which shifted risk sentiment.”
Trump did not impose any new trade measures immediately after his inauguration on Monday, but did order federal agencies to investigate unfair trade practices by other countries.
He said he was considering imposing a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico starting February 1, instead of applying it on his first day in office as previously promised.
The initial exemption helped to push down oil prices, but the tax on Canadian crude could lead to higher oil prices in the future. Most of Canada's oil exports are shipped to the United States and are typically sold at a discount to WTI.
On Monday, Trump rolled out a sweeping plan to speed up the permitting process for oil, gas and electricity to maximize record U.S. energy output.
The US president also said his administration would “probably” stop buying oil from Venezuela. The US is the second-largest buyer of Venezuelan oil after China. Trump also promised to replenish the strategic reserve, a move that could boost oil prices by boosting demand for US crude.
In North Dakota (USA), crude oil production is estimated to decrease by 125,000 to 150,000 barrels per day due to cold weather and operational difficulties, the local pipeline authority said on Monday.
In the domestic market, it is forecasted that there will be fluctuations following the world market. According to a representative of a business, with the current market developments, it is forecasted that in the next price management period, gasoline prices will likely continue to increase sharply.
Domestic retail prices of gasoline and oil on January 18, 2025 will be applied according to the price level at the management session on the afternoon of January 16 of the Ministry of Finance - Industry and Trade.
Accordingly, E5 RON 92 gasoline increased by 319 VND/liter, not higher than 20,750 VND/liter. RON 95 gasoline price increased by 201 VND/liter, not higher than 21,220 VND/liter.
Similarly, the prices of various types of oil also increased simultaneously. Of which, diesel increased by 539 VND/liter, not higher than 19,782 VND/liter; kerosene increased by 462 VND/liter, to 19,706 VND/liter and fuel oil increased by 999 VND/kg, not higher than 17,181 VND/kg.
