US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he was frustrated with rising oil prices over fears that tension in the Middle East could disrupt supplies.
Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate, which tracks US crude, surged on Wednesday to their highest level since April, before slightly easing on Thursday.
“I don't like – the oil prices have gone up just a little bit over the last few days,” Mr Trump told reporters at the White House.
Brent crude fell 45 cents, or 0.64 per cent, to $69.32 per barrel while WTI crude fell by 20 cents, or 0.29 per cent, to $67.91 per barrel.
“It's gonna keep going down a little bit, right? Because we have inflation under control,” Mr Trump said.
An analysis conducted by Goldman Sachs last month indicated that he prefers crude prices to range between $40 and $50 per barrel, based on his social media posts.
Prices rose on Wednesday after the US was preparing to evacuate non-essential staff from its embassy in Baghdad amid stalled progress in talks with Tehran to reach a nuclear deal. The two sides were expected to meet again in Oman on Sunday.
Mr Trump, who this week said he was becoming less confident that a deal could be reached, warned that Israel could soon strike Iran.
“I don’t want to say imminent but it looks like it’s something that could very well happen,” he said.
Mr Trump this year began his second term in office with a “drill, baby, drill” approach to energy, pledging to increase the country's domestic oil production.
However, US crude-oil production is expected to dip over the next 18 months as producers decrease drilling due to lower prices, according to a report from the Energy Information Administration on Tuesday.
“With fewer active drilling rigs, we forecast US operators will drill and complete fewer wells through 2026,” the EIA said.
The agency said it expects US crude oil production to fall from a record high of 13.5 million barrels per day this year to about 13.3 million barrels per day by the fourth quarter of 2026.
The EIA forecast Brent crude to average $61 per barrel by the end of this year and average $59 a barrel in 2026 due to rising global inventories.
Trump lashes out at Powell
Meanwhile, Mr Trump also expressed his frustrations with Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell as the US central bank is expected to keep interest rates steady when it meets next week. Mr Trump added that he “may have to force something” if the Fed does not lower interest rates, although he did not elaborate.
His comments came hours after government data showed that US producer prices rose less than anticipated last month, helping to calm fears of a tariff-fuelled inflation surge after separate inflation data came in softer than expected this week.
Mr Powell and other Fed officials have indicated a cautious approach towards interest rates, due to uncertainty over the economic affects of tariffs, immigration and other Trump policies.
Mr Trump also said he is “not going to fire” Mr Powell, although the Fed chairman maintains the law does not give the president authority to sack him. A ruling from the Supreme Court in May give him special protection from being fired by the president based on the central bank's quasi-private structure.
