WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil soared on Thursday as expectations of an end to the Russia-Ukraine war dimmed, with Russia adamant about holding the captured territories while Ukraine remains unwilling to cede the regions.
WTI Crude Oil for January delivery was last seen trading up by $0.70 (or 1.19%) at $59.65 per barrel.
In the series of ongoing efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump to end the Russia-Ukraine war, after back-to-back talks with Russia and Ukraine, the U.S. envoy to Russia Steven Witkoff talked with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday in Moscow for more than four hours.
The talks did not come close to the signing of a deal as Putin remains obstinate in retaining the Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine, especially the Donbas and Novorossiya region.
Ukraine has so far rejected demands for ceding its territories to Russia, a contention which Ukraine-friendly European nations have also supported. European leaders criticized Putin for being 'insincere' in his attempts to resolve the conflict peacefully.
With a compromise evasive, Trump sounded cautiously optimistic about the future outcome of his peace plan.
Today, Ukrainian officials are in the U.S. to discuss with their American counterparts on taking things to the next stage.
The U.S-imposed sanctions on Russian oil persist despite traders wanting the war to end soon and thereby see free flow of Russian oil into the market.
On the war front, Ukraine continues to target oil refineries in Russia and sea-borne Russian-flagged vessels.
Reuters reported that Ukraine struck the Druzhba oil pipeline in Russia's central Tambov region, damaging the Taganrog-Lipetsk section. Russia is yet to confirm this officially though.
Ukraine has conducted around 14 strikes on Russian refineries in November alone.
The crisis that erupted in South America after U.S. advanced its military preparedness to attack Venezuela is intensifying.
Accusing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of promoting narco-trafficking and human-trafficking, the effects of which penetrates into the U.S., the Trump administration is set for a military confrontation.
Dismissing Trump's allegations, Maduro accused the U.S. of eyeing its rich oil reserves under the pretext of curbing the illegal drug trade.
Though the tension has reduced a little after Maduro confirmed yesterday that he had a 'respectful and cordial' discussion with Trump around 10 days before, the threat has increased the risk premium for oil prices.
In their most recent meeting, the OPEC alliance reaffirmed last month's commitment to halt production increases for the first quarter 2026.
Bloomberg has reported that Saudi Arabian state producer Aramco has cut the price of its flagship Arab Light crude grade by 60 cents.
Owing to excess supply from the U.S. and production increases that OPEC commenced since this April, in 2025, oil prices have seen a fall of roughly 16%.
Potential oversupply concerns were precipitated after yesterday's U.S. Energy Information Administration data for the week ending November 28 showing an increase by 0.57 million barrels in crude oil inventories. The numbers also revealed a rise in gasoline and distillate stocks.
In the U.S., markets are decisively certain that Kevin Hassett, a supporter of low-interest rates would be Trump's preferred candidate to replace the current U.S. Federal Reserve Chair, next year. Alongside a slew of recent jobs data indicating weakness in the U.S. labor market, traders are pricing in a rate cut by the Fed next week.
Oversupply concerns and rate cut expectations limited the gains in oil prices.
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