How Tariffs and OPEC+ Are Driving Down Oil Prices: QuickTake

When US President Donald Trump was inaugurated to his second term as president on Jan. 20, oil prices were close to the highs of the summer before. By early May, they had plunged by nearly a quarter.

That’s for two big reasons: Trump’s trade war is driving down economic growth, which hurts oil demand, and the OPEC+ oil cartel announced larger-than-expected output increases for May and June.

The lower crude prices will have important implications for oil-producing countries, which struggle to balance their budgets at these levels, and importer countries, which are benefiting from lower energy costs for transportation and ...