(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.) By Una Galani HONG KONG, Aug 5 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The standoff between the U.S. and India may well get worse before it gets better. Having slapped a 25% tariff on goods the South Asian country sends to America, Donald Trump is vowing to ratchet up the rate over the $4 trillion economy's purchases of Russian oil. New Delhi calls the threat unjustified and unreasonable. A deal with Washington is [Read more]

Oil prices drifted lower on Tuesday on oversupply concerns as OPEC+ moved ahead with another large output hike despite a weak demand outlook, more than offsetting the potential for tighter Russian oil trade due to U.S. policies. Brent crude futures dipped 11 cents, or 0.16%, to $68.65 a barrel by 0424 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was down 12 cents, or 0.18%, to $66.17 a barrel. It was the fourth consecutive decline for both contracts, which fell by more than 1% in the previous [Read more]

Libya's National Oil Corporation said on Monday it signed a memorandum of understanding with U.S. oil giant ExxonMobil after a decade of activity halt in the North African country due to security reasons. NOC in a statement said the MoU focuses on conducting detailed geological and geophysical studies to identify the hydrocarbon resources in four offshore blocks located off the northwest coast and the country's Sirte Basin. In 2013, ExxonMobil, the world's largest publicly-traded energy [Read more]

Malaysia will spend up to $150 billion in the next five years to buy equipment from U.S. multinationals for its semiconductor, aerospace and data centre sectors, part of a deal with Washington to cut tariffs, its trade minister said on Monday. The United States announced last week that it would impose a 19% tariff on Malaysia starting from August 8, lower than a 25% levy threatened last month. State energy firm Petroliam Nasional Berhad will buy liquefied natural gas worth $3.4 billion a [Read more]

Oil prices extended declines on Monday after OPEC+ agreed to another large production hike in September, with concerns about a slowing economy in the U.S., the world's biggest oil user, adding to the pressure. Brent crude futures fell 40 cents, or 0.57%, to $69.27 a barrel by 0115 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $66.96 a barrel, down 37 cents, or 0.55%, after both contracts closed about $2 a barrel lower on Friday. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries [Read more]

Goldman Sachs on Sunday reiterated its oil price forecast with Brent averaging $64 per barrel in the fourth quarter of 2025 and $56 in 2026, but expects an increasing range of risks to its baseline estimates from recent developments. "Increasing pressure on Russia and Iran sanctioned oil supply poses an upside risk to our price forecast, especially given the faster-than-expected normalization in spare capacity," the investment bank said in an August 3 note. However, Goldman flagged a [Read more]

A couple of months ago it would have been a brave call to say that OPEC+ would be able to bring back 2.5 million barrels per day of crude production and still keep oil prices anchored around $70 a barrel. But this is exactly what has occurred, with the eight members of the producer group winding back the last of their 2.2 million bpd of voluntary cuts by September, as well as allowing a separate increase for the United Arab Emirates. The eight OPEC+ members met virtually on Sunday, [Read more]

Indian officials have said they would keep purchasing oil from Russia despite the threat of penalties that U.S. President Donald Trump said he would impose, the New York Times reported on Saturday. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. The White House, India's Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Trump last month indicated in a Truth Social post that India would face additional penalties for [Read more]