Oil prices dropped to less than $75 a barrel yesterday amid reports that President Trump was pressuring Opec to increase its output by a million barrels a day.

The cartel, which pumps about a third of the world’s crude, is due to meet in Vienna this month to decide whether to maintain output curbs agreed with Russia and other producers in 2016. The curbs helped to reduce a global glut and boost prices, but senior Opec members confirmed that an increase in output was now under discussion.

Oil price rises have led to higher prices for fuel and other commodities and Mr Trump tweeted complaining about the cartel “artificially” boosting prices. He has said that he will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and reimpose