RoydadNaft –   The price of Brent crude oil from the North Sea fell by 8 cents, or 0.10%, to $78.21 per barrel today. Similarly, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil dropped by 9 cents, or 0.12%, to $74.53 per barrel.

According to a report by Roydad Naft, quoting Reuters, oil prices declined during Friday’s trading session, just a day after Donald Trump pressured OPEC and Saudi Arabia to lower oil prices by increasing crude production.

During his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday, Trump called on the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to reduce crude oil prices. He also urged Riyadh to increase U.S. investment packages to $1 trillion, surpassing the $600 billion figure previously reported by Saudi media.

Market instability over Trump’s tariff policies and the possibility of increased U.S. oil production also influenced crude oil futures.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced last week that the country’s crude oil inventories had fallen to their lowest levels since March 2022. This news helped prevent a steeper decline in oil prices.

According to the report, U.S. crude oil inventories dropped by 1 million barrels in the week ending January 17, reaching 411.7 million barrels—the seventh consecutive weekly decline.