Oil little changed as investors await next steps in Ukraine peace talks
Brent crude futures were at $65.90 a barrel, up 11 cents, at 0405 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures for September delivery, set to expire on Wednesday, were at $62.40 a barrel, up 5 cents. The more-active October contract was at $61.90 a barrel, up 13 cents.
Prices settled down more than 1% on Tuesday on optimism a deal to end the war seemed closer, which would mean the easing sanctions on Russia and an increase in global supply.
'Crude markets are in limbo… continued protracted peace talks will keep the market on its toes,' said Emril Jamil, a senior analyst at LSEG.
Despite comments from U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday the U.S. might provide air support as part of a deal to end Russia's war in the country, he also conceded Russian President Vladimir Putin might not want to make a deal after all.
Trump on Monday said he was arranging a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelenskiy, to be followed by a trilateral summit among the three presidents.
Trump said on Tuesday he discussed holding possible talks between Zelenskiy and Putin in Hungary with the country's Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Russia has not confirmed it will take part in talks with Zelenskiy.
'The likelihood of a quick resolution to the conflict with Russia now seems unlikely,' said Daniel Hynes, senior commodity strategist at ANZ, in a note on Wednesday.
In the U.S., BP said on Tuesday operations at its 440,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Whiting, Indiana, were affected due to flooding caused by a severe thunderstorm overnight, potentially weighing on the facility's crude demand.
The site is a key fuel producer for the Midwest market.
Prices found some support as industry inventory report indicated steady crude and fuel demand in the U.S., the world's biggest oil consumer.
U.S. crude oil inventories fell by 2.42 million barrels in the week ended August 15, market sources said on Tuesday, citing American Petroleum Institute figures.
Gasoline inventories fell by 956,000 barrels, while distillate inventories rose by 535,000 barrels from last week, the sources said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Recorder
14 minutes ago
- Business Recorder
Oil edges up on stalled Russia-Ukraine peace talks
NEW YORK: Oil prices edged up on Thursday as Russia and Ukraine blamed each other for a stalled peace process, and as earlier US data showed signs of strong demand in the top oil consuming nation. Brent crude futures were up 56 cents, or about 0.8%, at $67.40 a barrel at 12:08 p.m. EDT (1608 GMT), having hit a two-week high earlier in the session. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 53 cents, or 0.9%, at $63.24 a barrel. Both contracts climbed over 1% in the prior session. The path to peace in Ukraine remained uncertain, turning oil traders cautious after a selloff over the past two weeks on hopes that US President Donald Trump would soon negotiate a diplomatic end to Russia's war with its neighbor. Both Moscow and Kyiv have since blamed each other for stalling the peace process. Russia on Thursday launched a major air attack near Ukraine's border with the European Union, while Ukraine claimed to have hit a Russian oil refinery. 'Some geopolitical risk premium is slowly being pumped back into the market,' oil trading advisory firm Ritterbusch and Associates told clients on Thursday. The uncertainty in the peace talks means that the possibility of tighter sanctions on Russia has resurfaced, said Tamas Varga, an analyst at PVM Oil Associates. Oil prices were also supported by a larger-than-expected drawdown from US crude stockpiles in the last week, indicating strong demand. US crude stockpiles fell 6 million barrels in the week ended August 15, the US Energy Information Administration reported on Wednesday, while analysts had expected a draw of 1.8 million barrels. Investors were also looking to the Jackson Hole economic conference in Wyoming for signals on a possible Fed interest rate cut next month. The annual gathering of central bankers begins on Thursday, with Fed Chair Jerome Powell scheduled to speak on Friday.
Business Recorder
14 minutes ago
- Business Recorder
US natgas prices climb 2pc on small storage build
NEW YORK: US natural gas futures climbed about 2% on Thursday on a smaller-than-expected storage build, recent declines in daily output and an increase in gas flows to liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants. Front-month gas futures for September delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 4.6 cents, or 1.7%, to $2.798 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) at 10:34 a.m. EDT (1434 GMT). On Wednesday, the contract closed at its lowest since November 8 for a second day in a row. Thursday's price increase pushed the contract out of technically oversold territory. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said energy firms added 13 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas into storage during the week ended August 15. That was smaller than the 22-bcf build analysts forecast in a Reuters poll and compares with an increase of 29 bcf during the same week last year and an average build of 35 bcf over the 2020 to 2024 period. Analysts said the build was smaller-than-usual due to increased cooling demand during hot weather last week. Looking forward, traders are showing signs that they are not worried about having enough gas supplies for this winter, with the premium of futures for March over April 2026 on track to fall to a record low of around 13 cents per mmBtu. The industry calls the March-April spread the 'widow maker' because rapid price moves resulting from changing weather forecasts have forced some speculators out of business, including the Amaranth hedge fund, which lost more than $6 billion in 2006. Traders use the March-April and October-November spreads to bet on winter weather forecasts and supply and demand. March is the last month of the winter-heating season when utilities pull gas out of storage, and October is the last month of the summer cooling season when utilities inject gas into storage.
Business Recorder
14 minutes ago
- Business Recorder
Iron ore rebounds as China demand concerns fade
BEIJING/SINGAPORE: Iron ore futures rebounded on Thursday as a mandated production cut ahead of a military parade in China seemed to be less severe and shorter than expected, allaying demand concerns. The most-traded January iron ore contract on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) closed daytime trade 0.98% higher at 772.5 yuan ($107.63) a metric ton. The benchmark September iron ore on the Singapore Exchange rose 0.55% to $101.3 a ton by 0704 GMT. Both the benchmarks had fallen for six straight sessions through Wednesday, weighed by demand concerns as steelmakers in top Chinese production hub Tangshan were required to curb production for better air quality in Beijing for the military parade on September 3 commemorating the end of World War II. The length of the production restriction in Tangshan is shorter than expected, therefore the overall impact will be limited, analysts said. Hot metal output, a gauge of iron ore demand, will likely hold steady this week, lending support to ore prices, said one of the analysts on condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to media. Still, crude steel production at key China steel hubs dipped 3.3% year-on-year, according to data from the country's National Bureau of Statistics. Other steelmaking ingredients on the DCE lost ground, with coking coal and coke down 1.5% and 0.95%, respectively. Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange all fell. Rebar edged down 0.03%, hot-rolled coil lost 0.44, wire rod eased 0.15% and stainless steel shed 0.27%.
