NEW YORK/BEIJING: Oil prices fell on Friday, heading for their steepest weekly losses since late June as the latest round of US tariffs weighed on the economic outlook and likely upcoming Trump-Putin talks raised the prospect of an ease in sanctions on Russia.
Brent crude futures were down 51 cents to $65.92 a barrel at 9:30 a.m. Saudi time, on track to decline more than 4 percent week over week.
US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 57 cents, or 0.89 percent, to $63.31 a barrel, set to fall nearly 6 percent on a weekly basis.
Higher US tariffs against a host of trade partners went into effect on Thursday. The tariffs raised concerns of weaker economic activity, which would hit demand for crude oil, ANZ Bank analysts said in a note, and came against the backdrop of an already weaker-than-expected US labor market.
A Kremlin announcement on Thursday that Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump would meet in the coming days meanwhile raised expectations of a diplomatic end to the war in Ukraine.
