09:15 AM EDT, 04/02/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Oil traded lower early on Wednesday following a report showing U.S. inventories rose last week ahead of new supply coming this month as OPEC+ begins to unwind 2.2-million barrels per day of production cuts, while the market's attention turns to fresh tariffs coming from U.S. President Donald Trump.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil for May delivery was last seen down US$0.41 to US$70.79 per barrel, while June Brent crude was down US$0.47 to US$74.02.

In its weekly survey released on Tuesday afternoon, the American Petroleum Institute reported U.S. oil stocks rose by 6.04-million barrels last week, while the consensus estimate among analysts polled by Reuters expected a 2.1-million barrel drop in inventories. The Energy Information Administration will release official inventory data later on Wednesday morning.

The rise in stocks comes ahead of new supply coming from OPEC+ as it returns production cuts to market in 18 monthly increments, beginning with 138,000 barrels per day of additional supply this month. However the new supply is being offset with tightened U.S. sanctions on Iran and Venezuela, while Trump this week threatened to impose secondary tariffs on U.S. imports from countries buying Russian oil.

Trump plans to introduce a broad slate of fresh tariffs on imports from U.S. trading partners and products on Wednesday afternoon, as he looks to raise US$600 billion annually from U.S. consumers, the largest tax increase in the country's history, according to CNN. The new levies are likely to slow growth and boost inflation

"Crude prices paused last month's rally, with Brent finding some resistance above USD 75, with the focus-for now-turning from a sanctions-led reduction in supply to Trump's tariff announcement and its potential negative impact on growth and demand," Saxo Bank noted.