All eyes on trade negotiations
April 28, 2025
There appeared to be very little conviction in the market on Friday. The energy markets all traded in very tight ranges.
Baker Hughes reported the oil rigs increased by 1 to a total of 481 rigs. Last year at this time there were 511 oil rigs. US natural gas drilling also slowed in April in what could be an early response to the decline in futures prices.
Crude oil prices closed up on Friday but were down for the week. Downward pressure this past week for energy and equities prices mainly due to uncertainty of tariffs between two of the world’s largest oil consumers, China and the US. Some upward pressure on Friday came from news of China exempting some US imports and the US talking about cutting China tariffs in half.
President Trump was also reported saying that 200 tariff deals would be completed within 3 to 4 weeks and that Japan was very close. This news is bullish equities and crude oil prices.
President Trump is becoming increasingly frustrated with Russia concerning trying to achieve peace with Ukraine. Trump admits that Putin has just been trying to play him. This is a big admission for the President. President Trump appears to now be working more with Ukraine to end the war.
The reports are also continuing to be reported of good progress with Iran on the nuclear deal. If this continues a positive path it could lead to sanction being lifted and more Iranian barrels for crude oil coming to market which would be bearish for energy prices.