Oil prices advance as US court blocks Trump tariffs

Oil prices rose on Thursday after a U.S. court blocked most of President Donald Trump’s tariffs, while the market was watching out for potential new U.S. sanctions curbing Russian crude flows and an OPEC+ decision on hiking output in July.

Brent crude futures were up 19 cents, or 0.3 per cent, to $65.09 a barrel at 1215 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 24 cents, or 0.4 per cent, to $62.08 a barrel.

A U.S. trade court on Wednesday ruled that Trump overstepped his authority by imposing across-the-board duties on imports from U.S. trading partners. The court was not asked to address some industry-specific tariffs Trump has issued on automobiles, steel and aluminium using a different statute.

“Markets are positive since Donald Trump got the setbacks on the tariffs,” said Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at SEB. “That’s less headwind for the global economy, so more demand for oil because the machine of the global economy moves better and faster.”