Oil prices dropped by 1 per cent on Friday and were set for their first weekly decline in three weeks as US President Donald Trump recommended a 50 per cent tariff on the European Union and expectations rose that OPEC+ will increase crude output further in July.

President Donald Trump’s campaign promise of U.S. “energy dominance” is running into a flood of OPEC crude oil — a surge of fuel production pushed by the Saudi leaders greeting him during his Mideast trip this week.

President Donald Trump's tariffs have emerged as an unexpected factor in the recent reports of encouraging inflation figures. According to USA Today, these tariffs are currently seen as a mechanism that helps curb inflation.

Since he returned to the Oval Office the benchmark West Texas Intermediate oil price has fallen from $80 a barrel to $60 (see chart 1). Some also speculate that Mr Trump’s noisy demands for a lower price contributed to a recent decision by the OPEC cartel to boost production,

Oil barely garnered a mention from U.S. President Donald Trump during his glitzy visit to Saudi Arabia this week. But the black gold may explain why the trip went so smoothly.

Speaking in Qatar, U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. was getting close to securing a nuclear deal with Iran.

The analysts concluded that Trump appears to prefer West Texas Intermediate oil in the $40 to $50 a barrel range — well under today's $63 a barrel.

US President Donald Trump appears to prefer oil prices between $40 and $50 a barrel, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc., citing an in-house analysis of his social-media posts on the topic.

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