Oil price drops 4% as Trump claims to speak to OPEC to lower price

.. .We didn’t speak with Trump – OPEC

Oil prices tumbled more than 4% late Friday following Trump’s comment that he spoke with OPEC leadership to crash prices.

However, neither Saudi Arabia’s energy minister nor OPEC’s secretary general discussed lowering oil prices with President Donald Trump, sources told World Street Journal (WSJ) denying the U.S. leader’s earlier claim.

Moments after the Wall Street Journal reported the denials, Trump took to Twitter to double down on his earlier remark.

“Spoke to Saudi Arabia and others about increasing oil flow. All are in agreement,” the president tweeted.

Earlier on Friday, Trump told reporters he had “called up” OPEC and urged the producer group to take action to bring down fuel costs.

But as the day wore on, it remained unclear who was on the other line with Trump. The White House did not return requests for clarification.

OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo did not discuss the matter with Trump, and neither did Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih, sources familiar with the situation told the Journal.

Saudi officials told the Journal, Trump did not speak with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The discussion did not involve Venezuelan Oil Minister Manuel Quevedo, who currently holds OPEC’s rotating presidency, one of the country’s oil officials told the paper.

OPEC could not immediately be reached by CNBC for comment. The Saudi Embassy did not immediately return a request for comment.