# Oil down slightly; U.S. inventory draw offsets trade war fears

> Oil prices settled slightly lower on April 4 after China proposed a broad range of tariffs on US exports in response to a planned US levy on $50 billion of Chinese goods. A surprise 4.6 million barrel draw in US crude stockpiles pared losses, with Brent settling at $68.02 and WTI at $63.37.

- Date: 2018-04-04 · published 2018-04-04T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: trade · region US · magnitude high
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/10845-oil-down-slightly-u-s-inventory-draw-offsets-trade-war-fears
- Commodities: [Crude Oil (WTI)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/WTI.md), [Crude Oil (Brent)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/BRENT.md), [Soybeans](https://feedsoft.ai/c/SOY.md)

## Why it matters

Proposed Chinese duties on a broad set of US imports threaten US agricultural export demand, while the inventory draw signals tighter domestic crude supply that partly offset trade-driven weakness.

## Read by commodity

- SOY: bearish ▼
- WTI: neutral
- BRENT: neutral

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| WTI | 2018-04-04 | [Oil ends slightly lower on trade fears - MarketWatch](https://feedsoft.ai/events/10846-oil-ends-slightly-lower-on-trade-fears-marketwatch.md) | +3.2% | +6.0% |
| WTI | 2019-07-08 | [Traders, federal govt at risk from volatility in ringgit and oil prices](https://feedsoft.ai/events/58352-traders-federal-govt-at-risk-from-volatility-in-ringgit-and-oil-prices.md) | +5.0% | -2.7% |
| WTI | 2019-05-20 | [When Is a Trade War, Not a Trade War? - Mansfield Energy](https://feedsoft.ai/events/7391-when-is-a-trade-war-not-a-trade-war-mansfield-energy.md) | -6.8% | -16.4% |
| WTI | 2019-11-12 | [Commodities Week Ahead: Oil, Gold Await Trump Take On Trade War, Powell Testimony](https://feedsoft.ai/events/55963-commodities-week-ahead-oil-gold-await-trump-take-on-trade-war-powell-testimony.md) | +0.1% | +4.2% |
| WTI | 2025-01-29 | [Trump’s Nine-Hour Economic War on Colombia Rattles Markets - Bloomberg](https://feedsoft.ai/events/26776-trump-s-nine-hour-economic-war-on-colombia-rattles-markets-bloomberg.md) | -1.5% | -7.1% |
| BRENT | 2018-04-04 | [Oil ends slightly lower on trade fears - MarketWatch](https://feedsoft.ai/events/10846-oil-ends-slightly-lower-on-trade-fears-marketwatch.md) | +3.3% | +9.4% |
| BRENT | 2019-05-27 | [Oil under pressure from U.S.-China trade war, but OPEC cuts provide support, ETAuto](https://feedsoft.ai/events/59237-oil-under-pressure-from-u-s-china-trade-war-but-opec-cuts-provide-support-etauto.md) | -9.0% | -4.9% |
| BRENT | 2019-11-12 | [Commodities Week Ahead: Oil, Gold Await Trump Take On Trade War, Powell Testimony](https://feedsoft.ai/events/55963-commodities-week-ahead-oil-gold-await-trump-take-on-trade-war-powell-testimony.md) | +0.4% | +4.7% |

## Sources

- business-standard.com: https://www.business-standard.com/article/reuters/oil-down-slightly-u-s-inventory-draw-offsets-trade-war-fears-118040500037_1.html

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Data from Feedsoft AI (https://feedsoft.ai/). For information only; not investment advice.