The threat of tariffs on Canadian and Mexican crude by President Trump held crude prices in check on Thursday but they managed to make small gains for the day.
The President said if Canada and Mexico don’t do more to end shipments of fentanyl across U.S. borders, he will impose a 25% tariff as early as Saturday on their exports to the U.S.
Global standard Brent crude finished up 29 cents or 0.4% at $76.87 a barrel while West Texas Intermediate crude in the U.S. gained 11 cents or 0.2% to settle at $72.73 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The small gains came after both benchmarks settled Wednesday at their lowest levels of 2025.
Natural Gas finished down 12 cents or 3.88% to close at $3.05.
More Oklahoma energy stocks were in the losing column than those with gains on Thursday. Three percent losses were recorded by Helmerich & Payne, Mammoth Energy Services and PHX Minerals. NGL Energy Partners ended the day with a strong 3% gain.