The fear of recession fuelled high volatility in the oil market last week. The North Sea Dated weekly average increased slightly by US$0.88/bbl to US$58.13. On 13 August, President Trump postponed implementing a new round of tariffs from 1 September to 15 December. Front-month prices for WTI and Brent jumped following the news, easing market concerns of a scenario in which no trade agreement would be reached. The next day, an inversion in the US government bond yield curve, which is normally regarded as a signal of recession, triggered a sell-off in the markets and erased the earlier gains. The oil market rebounded slightly after positive comments from President Trump on Sino-US trade talks and robust US economic data in the later part of the week.