President Donald Trump tweeted on Thursday the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries needs to keep crude prices lower because of the military protection the U.S. provides for the region.
“The OPEC monopoly must get prices down now,” Trump said in the message.
Futures prices for WTI crude, the U.S. benchmark, dipped slightly following the tweet and were lower by 0.2 percent on the day. On Wednesday, WTI climbed back above $70 a barrel. The price of oil is up 8 percent in the last month and 17 percent for 2018.
