Top trader sees oil rattled as Trump makes market fret

Singapore

DONALD Trump and global crude producers are set to take prices on a bumpy ride this year, according to the world's biggest independent oil trader.

As investors are kept on tenterhooks over US policies and whether the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and other nations will curb output as pledged, global benchmark Brent crude may vacillate between US$52 and US$62 a barrel, according to Kho Hui Meng, the head of the Asian arm of Vitol Group.

The market's structure could also shift in the third quarter, with near-term cargoes turning costlier than those for later delivery, flipping from the other way around.

"I think this market is going to be very volatile," Mr Kho, president of Vitol Asia Pte Ltd, said in an interview in Singapore. "People are worrying about US policy. With the new administration, a lot of things are being speculat…