Oil prices are trending downwards weekly as trade concerns weigh

LONDON (Reuters) – Oil prices were put under pressure on Friday by trade tensions between the United States and China and were on track for a third consecutive week of decline.

Brent crude was up 57 cents to $ 73.15 on barrel at 1344 GMT. US crude West Texas Intermediate (WTI), which was due for delivery in August, was up 28 cents to 69.74 dollars a barrel, while the more traded contract in September dropped 13 cents to 68.11 dollars.

U.S. President Donald Trump said in an interview with CNBC that he was ready to apply tariffs on $ 500 billion worth of goods imported from China.

The decline in oil demand in the United States and China caused by an economic slowdown caused by their trade dispute would probably weigh heavily on the markets.

"The impact on global economic growth of a tax of this magnitude will be severe and will likely have a strong negative impact on the markets," said Olaf van den Heuvel, chief investment officer at Aegon Asset Management.

The People 's Bank of China on Friday reduced its mid – point of the yuan for the seventh consecutive trading day at the lowest point in the year.

The yuan then bounced back to a low of nearly 13 months, although it rebounded later.

Trump also said that he was concerned that the Chinese currency "was falling like a stone" and that the strong US dollar "puts us at a disadvantage".

The United States accounted for about one fifth of global oil demand in 2017, while China consumed about 13%, according to the BP Statistical Review of Energy.

A group of Norwegian drilling workers on Thursday agreed to end a strike that began on July 10, removing a threat to oil and gas production in the region.

"The end of a strike by oil workers in Norway has been a further drag on growth potential," said Stephen Brennock, an analyst at London-based broker PVM Oil Associates.

But prices found some support after OPEC's largest oil producer announced that it was going to temper its exports next month.

Saudi Arabia expects its exports to drop by about 100,000 barrels per day in August to ensure that it does not introduce more than oil on the market that customers need, said the governor of OPEC, Adeeb Al-Aama.

"Although international oil markets are well balanced in the third quarter, there will still be large stocks due to strong demand and seasonal factors in the second half," Al-Aama said in a statement.

He also expressed concern that Saudi Arabia and its partners are moving towards a substantial "unfounded" market oversupply.