Oil prices jump after Trump ‘expects’ Saudi Arabia, Russia to cut back on production

President Donald Trump said Thursday morning he expects Saudi Arabia and Russia to cut back on their oil production, which he said would yield good results for the American oil and gas industry.

Sky News Arabia reported global oil prices rose 30% after Trump’s announcement, which he later said could be up to 15 million barrels a day.

The Kremlin immediately denied Russian president Vladimir Putin had spoken the Saudi Arabian crown prince, whose nation was also calling for an emergency OPEC meeting.

On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported the president was meeting with CEOs of oil companies to discuss potential tariffs on Saudi Arabian oil.

On Thursday, the U.S. Commerce Department reported the nation’s trade deficit tumbled in February to the lowest level since 2016 as exports fell and imports fell more. The politically sensitive gap in the trade of goods with China narrowed in February, when the world’s No. 2 economy was locked down to combat the coronavirus outbreak.

The department said the gap between what the U.S. buys and what it sells abroad dropped 12.2% to $39.9 billion in February, the lowest since September 2016. Exports fell 0.4% to $207.5 billion. Imports skidded 2.5% to $247.5 billion.

The goods gap with China fell 17% to $19.7 billion on a 13% drop in imports.

In February, the United States ran a $61.2 billion deficit in the trade of goods such as aircraft and appliances. But it ran a $21.3 billion surplus in services such as education and tourism.