West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down by about $3 at midday Wednesday to a 42-month low on worries over U.S. tariffs and the decision by OPEC+ members to begin increasing output in April.

The NYMEX April NYMEX WTI contract was $2.90 lower at $65.35/bbl as of noon ET.

If that price holds through settlement, it would be the lowest value since Aug. 20, 2021. The May WTI contract was $2.80 lower at $64.90/bbl.

The U.S. crude oil benchmark is on track for a fourth-straight loss after it settled Thursday at $70.35/bbl.

The May Brent contract was down by $2.50 to about $68.55/bbl and June Brent was off by $2.40 to $68.15/bbl.

Refined product futures were also down sharply. The NYMEX April RBOB was 8.95cts lower at $2.105/gal and the May contract was off by 8.6cts to $2.111/gal.

The NYMEX April ULSD contract was 8.4cts lower at $2.203/gal and May ULSD was off 7.4cts to $2.152/gal.

Wednesday's pullback came a day after the Trump administration imposed tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico and added to earlier tariffs on Chinese imports.

Crude oil contracts also came under pressure from Energy Information Administration data released at midmorning that showed a 3.6-million-bbl increase in U.S. oil stocks in the week ended Friday. Gasoline and distillate stocks each fell last week by more than 1 million bbl, the agency said.

There was also follow-through selling a day after OPEC and its allies said they planned to begin unwinding earlier production cuts starting in April.

This content was created by Oil Price Information Service, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. OPIS is run independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

--Reporting by Frank Tang, ftang@opisnet.com; Editing by Jeff Barber, jbarber@opisnet.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 05, 2025 12:41 ET (17:41 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.