Crude oil futures plunge for a second day on Friday, sinking to the lowest in four years during the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, after China announced a retaliatory tariff of 34% on U.S. imports in an escalating trade war a day after President Trump unveiled tariffs that could weaken global demand while OPEC+ delivered a surprise production increase.

Imports of oil, gas and refined products were granted exemptions from Trump's new tariffs, but traders fear the policies could spark inflation, slow economic growth and intensify trade disputes, hurting demand for crude.

"China's aggressive countermove to U.S. tariffs all but confirms we are heading towards a global trade war; a war that has no winners and which will hurt economic growth and demand for key commodities such as crude oil and refined products," Saxo Bank head of commodity strategy Ole Hansen wrote.

The tariffs and OPEC+ production hike amount to a "very bad combo" for the crude market, Swissquote Bnak analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya said, and "as such, the supply/demand fundamentals remain comfortably negative."

Citing higher OPEC+ supply and the risk of an escalating trade conflict, Goldman Sachs lowered its 2025 average price forecasts for Brent and WTI crude to $69/bbl and $66/bbl, respectively, down from $73 and $69 previously.

Front-month Nymex crude (CL1:COM) for May delivery trades -8.5% at $61.27/bbl, and front-month Brent crude (CO1:COM) for June delivery -7.6% at $64.82/bbl.

ETFs: (NYSEARCA:USO), (BNO), (UCO), (SCO), (USL), (DBO), (DRIP), (GUSH), (USOI), (NYSEARCA:XLE)

Energy company shares are suffering heavy losses for a second straight day, including the top 25 oil and gas names ranked by market value: Exxon Mobil (XOM) -4.4%, Chevron (CVX) -5.9%, ConocoPhillips (COP) -8.1%, Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) -6.2%, Williams Companies (WMB) -7.9%, EOG Resources (EOG) -6.3%, Kinder Morgan (KMI) -7.5%, Energy Transfer (ET) -9.5%, SLB (SLB) -9.3%, MPLX (MPLX) -7.8%, Oneok (OKE) -10.8%, Cheniere Energy (LNG) -11%, Hess (HES) -7.9%, Phillips 66 (PSX) -9.8%, Marathon Petroleum (MPC) -8.8%, Occidental Petroleum (OXY) -9.2%, Diamondback Energy (FANG) -11.6%, Baker Hughes (BKR) -10.1%, Targa Resources (TRGP) -11.5%, Valero Energy (VLO) -9.4%, Cheniere Energy Partners (CQP) -7.1%, EQT Corp. (EQT) -12%, Texas Pacific Land (TPL) -12%, Expand Energy (EXE) -9.9%, Devon Energy (DVN) -11.1%.