(Bloomberg) — Oil prices fell in choppy trading, with U.S. crude falling to its lowest since May as weakness in U.S. stock markets added to bearish sentiment about oversupply. West Texas Intermediate settled below $58 a barrel, the lowest since May, while global benchmark Brent fell to the weakest in about two months. Diesel futures, which were down about 1.4%, were the biggest hit to the oil complex on Friday, while a sell-off in US stocks compounded declines. Thin trading activity ahead of the Christmas and New Year holidays, as well as traders wary of deploying risk after a difficult year for profits, also contributed to choppy trading. Growing consensus on supplies exceeding demand next year has pushed crude to the bottom of a band it has traded in since mid-October. And some traders are positioning for further declines as bearish bets on Brent crude reached their highest in seven weeks, according to data released on Friday. The International Energy Agency on Thursday reiterated its forecast for an unprecedented surplus – albeit slightly below its forecast last month – and said global supplies had swelled to a four-year high. Geopolitical tensions may add some support to oil prices. President Donald Trump announced new sanctions against three of Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro’s nephews as well as six oil tankers, after the US seized a supertanker off the coast of the Latin American nation on Wednesday. The ship seizure was just the beginning of a new phase in the Trump administration’s accelerated pressure campaign against the Venezuelan president, according to people familiar with the operation. The act of economic state capture is designed to deny Maduro a lifeline of oil revenue and force him to relinquish power, the people said. And a bleak prospect for a peace deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine — which could lower prices by eliminating sanctions on Russian crude — is also helping support oil. “Ukraine also appears to be continuing to target Russian oil assets even as peace negotiations are in the works, which appears to be holding a psychological floor in rough shape,” said Dennis Kissler, senior vice president for trading at BOK Financial Securities Inc. To get Bloomberg’s Energy Daily newsletter in your inbox, click here. –With help from Nicholas Lua. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com ©2025 Bloomberg LP