Oil prices rise, but Brent remains below $70

Oil drilling rigs

Oil prices rose from the six-month lows as the outlook for market demand remained clouded by trade tensions over tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.

President Trump has decided to delay some tariffs on automakers and is considering exemptions for some agricultural products, but he still intends to impose tit-for-tat tariffs on April 2.

Brent crude was trading up 0.32% at $69.52 a barrel, at 9:05 am Makkah time, after losing more than 6% over the past four sessions.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 0.29% to $66.50 a barrel, after hitting the lowest level since May 23 at $65.22 during the previous session.

Morgan Stanley lowered its estimates for the price of Brent crude for the rest of the year, expecting it to reach $60 levels during the second half.

Official data released on March 5 showed that US oil inventories rose by 3.61 million barrels last week, reaching their highest levels since July 2024.