Oil barrel prices soar after Donald Trump's "premature" tweet

In just one tweet, Donald Trump drove up the price of a barrel of oil. Thursday, April 2, he said he expected a reduction "of about 10 million barrels", or more, of Russian and Saudi production, enough to limit the current imbalance in the black gold market. However, neither Russia nor Saudi Arabia has confirmed this claim.

Just spoke to my friend MBS (Crown Prince) of Saudi Arabia, who spoke with President Putin of Russia, & I expect & hope that they will be cutting back approximately 10 Million Barrels, and maybe substantially more which, if it happens, will be GREAT for the oil & gas industry!

The US president tweeted that he had "spoken to (his) friend MBS (crown prince) from Saudi Arabia, who spoke with President Putin." And the American president to continue: "I hope and I expect that they will reduce by about ten million barrels, and maybe much more," he added, without specifying the nature of this reduction.

“Good (excellent) news for everyone!"

"It could even go up to 15 million barrels. Good (excellent) news for everyone!", He added, without however giving details on these figures.

In response, around 3:45 p.m. GMT, a barrel of Brent North Sea crude for June delivery was worth $ 29.75 a barrel in London, up 20.25% from Wednesday's close. In New York, WTI US barrel for May gained 22.99% to 24.98 dollars.

By touching respectively 36.29 dollars and 27.39 dollars, the two reference barrels approached the 50% and 35% increase compared to the close of the previous day.

Denial of Moscow

The sudden surge in prices was then somewhat limited by a denial from the Kremlin. "No, there was no such conversation," Russian Presidency spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Interfax, adding that "no, for the moment" no talks were scheduled. between the Russian president and Mohammed ben Salmane.

"So Donald Trump's tweet may have been premature," said Edward Moya, an analyst at Oanda.

At the same time, Saudi Arabia called for an "urgent" meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other countries, including Russia, to reach a "fair deal that will restore 'oil market balance', announced the Saudi official agency SPA.

With AFP and Reuters

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