Oil Falls as Potential Ukraine Talks Ease Risks to Russian Flows
Oil fell after US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to talks on ending the war in Ukraine, potentially easing the risk to supplies.
West Texas Intermediate dropped as low as $70.22 a barrel, the lowest price since late December. Crude later pared losses to trade near $71 on reports that Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs won’t go into effect immediately and will include exemptions, easing concerns about how much they’ll hurt demand.
Russia’s crude flows have been a key focus for the market in recent weeks, with sanctions imposed by the Biden administration last month boosting futures on signs that the measures are restricting supplies. Trump’s plan to meet with Putin in Saudi Arabia in the “not-too-distant future” is raising the prospect that those measures will be lifted and that Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia’s industry will abate, allowing Moscow’s crude to again flow freely.
Trump’s various trade measures have also weighed on sentiment and prices over the past three weeks. The president’s policies risk stoking volatility in global markets and have the potential to create supply-demand imbalances that aren’t reflective of fundamentals, OPEC said in a monthly report on Wednesday. The release also showed that several members are better implementing supply curbs.
WTI for March delivery declined 0.6% to $70.95 a barrel at 10:57 a.m. in New York. Brent for April settlement fell 0.7% to $74.68 a barrel.
Source : Bloomberg
