Oil prices surged on Wednesday, recovering from a five-week low reached the previous day, amid worries over potential supply disruptions following U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats of tariffs on India due to its purchases of Russian crude oil.
Brent crude futures increased by 43 cents, or 0.6 percent, reaching $68.07 a barrel by 03:30 GMT (currently trading above $68.10), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose by 40 cents, also 0.6 percent, to $65.56 a barrel (currently trading above $65.60).
Both oil contracts had dropped by more than $1 on Tuesday, settling at their lowest levels in five weeks, marking a fourth consecutive session of losses driven by oversupply concerns linked to OPEC+’s planned output increase in September.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, collectively referred to as OPEC+, reached an agreement on Sunday to boost oil production by 547,000 barrels per day for September, effectively ending its recent output cuts sooner than initially intended.
OPEC+ accounts for approximately half of the world’s oil supply and had been limiting production for several years to stabilize the market. However, the group has introduced a series of accelerated output increases this year to reclaim market share.
U.S. pressure on India
Meanwhile, U.S. demands for India to cease its purchases of Russian oil, as Washington explores avenues to pressure Moscow toward a peace agreement with Ukraine, could disrupt supply chains as Indian refiners search for alternatives and Russian crude is redirected to other customers.
Trump reiterated on Tuesday his threat of imposing higher tariffs on Indian goods due to the country’s Russian oil purchases within the next 24 hours. He also stated that falling energy prices could compel Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the conflict in Ukraine.
New Delhi characterized Trump’s threat as “unjustified” and pledged to safeguard its economic interests, thereby exacerbating the existing trade rift between the two nations.
According to sources citing figures from the American Petroleum Institute, U.S. crude inventories declined by 4.2 million barrels last week.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration is scheduled to release its weekly inventory data on Wednesday.
Read more: Crude oil prices dip to $68.62 as oversupply worries lead to one-week low
OPEC+ output increases
OPEC+‘s decision to increase output by 547,000 barrels per day in September follows a pattern of monthly increases in 2025, including previous increments of 411,000 to 548,000 barrels per day since April. The alliance’s supply curbs, once amounting to over 2.2 million barrels per day, are being rapidly unwound.
India, currently the world’s third-largest oil importer, continues to source substantial crude volumes from Russia despite U.S. policy pressure. For the first half of 2025, India has imported about 1.75 million barrels per day of Russian oil, which is a 1 percent increase over the previous year, thus making Russia India’s largest single oil source and accounting for approximately 37 percent of total Indian oil imports.
