Oil Settles Lower, Supply Worries Ease on Hopes for Ukraine Peace deal
Oil prices settled down on Friday on prospects for a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine that could ease global supply disruptions by ending sanctions against Moscow, but losses were limited by a delay in U.S. immediate reciprocal tariffs.
Brent futures settled down 28 cents, or 0.37%, at $74.74 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 55 cents, or 0.77%, to $70.74.
For the week, Brent gained 0.11% while WTI lost around 0.37%.
President Donald Trump ordered U.S. officials this week to begin talks on ending the war in Ukraine after Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy expressed a desire for peace in separate phone calls with him.
Lifting sanctions on Moscow in the event of a peace deal should boost global energy supplies.
Russian oil exports could be sustained if workarounds to the latest U.S. sanctions package are found, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its latest oil market report.
This week, Trump ordered commerce and economic officials to study reciprocal tariffs against countries that place tariffs on U.S. goods and to return their recommendations by April 1.
Source : Reuters
