WTI remains on the defensive near $66.00 amid tariff uncertainty

WTI price remains under pressure around $66.00 in Friday’s early Asian session.

Rising US inventories and plans to increase OPEC+ output weigh on the WTI price. 

Oil traders brace for the US February employment report on Friday for fresh impetus.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the US crude oil benchmark, is trading around $66.00 during the early Asian session on Friday. The WTI price remains on the defensive near a three-year low as traders are concerned about the impact of tariffs between the US, Canada, and China and plans by OPEC+ to raise output.

US President Donald Trump issued an executive order earlier in the day exempting goods from both Canada and Mexico under a North American trade agreement, known as USMCA, for a month from the 25% tariffs that he slapped earlier this week. However, tariff uncertainty under the Trump administration continues to undermine the WTI price.

A larger-than-expected build in US crude inventories further pressured the black gold. Crude oil stockpiles in the United States for the week ending February 28 rose by 3.614 million barrels, compared to a fall of 2.332 million barrels in the previous week, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA) weekly report.  The market consensus estimated that stocks would decrease by 290,000 barrels. 

OPEC+, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia, decided to increase output for the first time since 2022. This, in turn, drags the black gold price lower. Downside risks on demand will likely be greater than supply-side risks at this point with the additional oil coming from OPEC, said Scott Shelton, energy analyst at TP ICAP.

Oil traders will closely watch the release of the US employment report for February on Friday, including Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP), Unemployment Rate and Average Hourly Earnings. If the report shows a weaker-than-expected outcome, this could exert some selling pressure on the Greenback and lift the USD-denominated commodity price in the near term.