Oil prices fell on Friday, putting them on track for a weekly loss of about 3%, as renewed concerns about a global supply glut and reports of an upcoming U.S.-Russia meeting on Ukraine dampened sentiment.
Brent crude futures dropped 65 cents, or 1.1%, to $60.41 a barrel at 10:26 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures slipped 58 cents, or 1%, to $56.88.
The decline followed news that U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to hold another summit within two weeks in Hungary to discuss the war in Ukraine. The announcement came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky prepared for a visit to the White House to seek additional military aid, including long-range Tomahawk missiles. Meanwhile, Washington continued to pressure India and China to reduce their purchases of Russian oil.
“Now that the two leaders are expected to meet, it could be a sign that the U.S. stance on Russia may soften. If that happens, oil prices could come under further pressure,” said Tamas Varga, an analyst at PVM.
Varga added that previous support for prices — stemming from Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian refineries and the threat of secondary sanctions on buyers of Russian oil — could weaken if diplomatic progress is made.
Broader economic concerns also weighed on the market. Rising trade tensions between the U.S. and China heightened fears of a global slowdown that could dampen energy demand. “It just demolishes confidence,” said Jorge Montepeque, managing director at Onyx Capital Group, who warned that the U.S. economy could feel the effects quickly.
Further pressure came from the International Energy Agency (IEA), which projected a growing oil supply surplus by 2026. In the U.S., government data showed that crude inventories rose by 3.5 million barrels to 423.8 million last week — far exceeding analysts’ expectations for a modest increase of 288,000 barrels.
The Energy Information Administration attributed the build-up largely to reduced refinery activity during autumn maintenance. The data also revealed that U.S. crude production climbed to a record 13.636 million barrels per day.
On Thursday, Brent crude had settled 1.37% lower and WTI ended down 1.39%, marking their lowest closing levels since May 5.
Source:Africa Publicity
