Oil prices slipped in early Asian trading on Thursday, giving back some of the previous session\u2019s gains as traders prepared for the end of the summer driving season and closely watched trade tensions between the U.S. and India.<\/p>\n
At the time of writing, West Texas Intermediate<\/a> (WTI) was down 39 cents, or 0.61%, at $63.76 a barrel, while Brent<\/a> crude eased 41 cents, or 0.6%, to $67.64. The modest pullback followed a more than 1% rise on Wednesday, wth both benchmarks on course for their biggest monthly loss since April.<\/p>\n The latest data<\/a> from the EIA offered a mixed picture of the domestic oil market. Nationwide crude inventories fell by 2.4 million barrels in the week ending August 22, exceeding expectations for a 1.9 million-barrel draw. The decline was led by a rare drop in stockpiles at Cushing, Oklahoma\u2014the delivery hub for U.S. crude futures\u2014which fell for the first time in eight weeks.<\/p>\n The drawdown pointed to firm demand ahead of the U.S. Labor Day holiday weekend, which traditionally marks the final stretch of peak summer travel. Although now that the seasonal high point is passing, consumption is likely to cool in September and beyond.<\/p>\n Refinery runs were also reported to be lower across all U.S. regions, pulling nationwide throughput to its lowest level since early July. That raised questions about whether refiners will sustain current crude drawdowns in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n Alongside demand signals, traders are closely tracking Washington\u2019s escalating pressure<\/a> on India to halt imports of Russian crude. The White House this week doubled tariffs on Indian goods to 50%, part of a broader effort to dissuade New Delhi from continuing its energy trade with Moscow.<\/p>\n White House trade adviser Peter Navarro outlined exactly why those tariffs were implemented in a column<\/a> for the Financial Times and suggested India is complicit in prolonging the Ukraine conflict by ‘giving Moscow the dollars it needs’.<\/p>\n Despite the sharp language and fresh tariffs, market watchers expect India to maintain Russian purchases, at least in the near term. \u201cIndia is expected to continue buying Russian crude for now, which should limit the immediate impact of the tariffs on global supply,\u201d said<\/a> IG market analyst Tony Sycamore.<\/p>\n Still, the diplomatic standoff injects uncertainty into the global crude balance at a time when OPEC+ has already eased production curbs and non-OPEC producers have boosted output, raising fears of oversupply in the quarters ahead.<\/p>\n Oil markets also remain sensitive to the war in Ukraine, where Russia and Ukraine have escalated<\/a> attacks on each other\u2019s energy infrastructure. On Wednesday, Ukraine reported a massive overnight drone barrage that struck gas transport systems and power facilities across six regions, cutting electricity to more than 100,000 people.<\/p>\n Such attacks have supported crude prices this week, underlining the fragility of Europe\u2019s energy supply chain and the possibility of further disruptions.<\/p>\n