WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Oil prices held steady on Friday but were poised for a second consecutive weekly gain, driven by escalating U.S.-Venezuela tensions, stalled Ukraine peace talks and expectations of a 25-basis-point interest rate reduction at next week's Federal Reserve policy meeting.
Benchmark Brent crude futures were up 0.1 percent at $63.31 a barrel and showed little changed for the week.
WTI crude futures slipped 0.1 percent to $59.60 but were on track for a weekly gain of more than 1.5 percent.
Supply factors remain in focus following damage from an Ukrainian drone attack on the Caspian Pipeline Consortium's Black Sea loading facility earlier in the week.
It was said that Kazakhstan's oil and condensate output fell by about 6 percent in the first days of December, reflecting the combined effect of storm damage and the temporary halt in loadings at the Black Sea terminal after the drone attack.
Amid stalled peace talks, Russian President Vladimir Putin has doubled down on his demand for Ukraine to surrender territory, saying his country will take full control of eastern Ukraine 'by military or other means.'
Ukraine said at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) that it wants 'real peace, not appeasement'.
Elsewhere, the Caribbean is erupting into a major geopolitical flashpoint as U.S. Marines take centre stage in escalating tensions with Venezuela.
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