By Arathy Somasekhar
(Reuters) – Oil prices were little changed in early trading on Wednesday as markets weighed U.S. President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national energy emergency on his first day in office and its impact on supply.
Brent crude futures eased 3 cents, to $79.26 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) for March delivery eased 9 cents to $75.74 at 0120 GMT.
Trump on Monday laid out a sweeping plan to maximise oil and gas production, including by declaring a national energy emergency to speed permitting, rolling back environmental protections, and withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris climate pact.
The policy is, however, unlikely to spur near-term investment or change U.S. production growth, analysts at Morgan Stanley wrote in note, adding that it could, however, moderate potential erosion of refined product demand.
Analysts also questioned if Trump’s promise to refill the strategic reserve would make any changes to oil demand as the Biden administration was already purchasing oil for the emergency stockpile.
Investors also remained cautious as Trump’s trade policy remained unclear. He said he was thinking of imposing 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico from Feb. 1, rather than on his first day in office as previously promised.
The U.S. president also added that his administration would “probably” stop buying oil from Venezuela, among the top suppliers of oil to the country.
Meanwhile, a rare winter storm churned across the U.S. Gulf Coast on Tuesday, and much of the United States remained in a dangerous deep freeze.
North Dakota’s oil production was estimated to be down by between 130,000 and 160,000 barrels per day (bpd) due to extreme cold weather and related operational challenges, the state’s pipeline authority said on Tuesday.
The impact of the storm on oil and gas operations remained limited in Texas, with minimum interruptions in gas flows, few power outages and plenty of gasoline inventories at the pump, as many roads and highways remained closed.
(Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston; Editing by Sonali Paul)
