Crude oil prices declined by about 1 per cent on Tuesday as markets weighed faltering Russia-Ukraine peace hopes against fears of oversupply.
Brent crude futures lost 72 cents or 1.14 per cent to trade at $62.45 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures depreciated by 68 cents or 1.15 per cent to sell at $58.64 a barrel.
Investors turned their focus to the Russia-Ukraine peace talks as Russian President Vladimir Putin met with US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner in the Kremlin on Tuesday.
President Putin warned European powers that if they started a war with Russia, Moscow was ready to fight and threatened to sever Ukraine’s access to the sea in response to drone attacks on tankers of Russia’s “shadow fleet” in the Black Sea.
This comes as the Russian President is set to start a two-day visit to India starting on Thursday, pitching more sales of Russian oil, missile systems and fighter jets in a bid to restore energy and defense ties hit by US pressure on the South Asian nation.
Amid tense trade negotiations with the US, India earlier this year was singled out by US President Donald Trump as the main financier of the Russia’s oil revenues. At the time, India remained adamant that it would buy the cheapest oil available regardless if it comes from Russia or elsewhere.
However, the US sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil upended all previous plans by Indian refiners, who hastened to withdraw from the spot market for Russian crude in December. All but two Indian refiners have skipped placing orders for Russian crude for December, apparently not willing to test how serious the US would be with potential secondary sanctions.
Concerns about oversupply, which put pressure on prices, have been balanced by attacks on Russian infrastructure over the weekend and tensions between the US and Venezuela.
On Monday, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium said it had resumed oil shipments from one mooring point at its Black Sea terminal following a major Ukrainian drone attack on Saturday.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) agreed to leave oil output levels unchanged for the first quarter of 2026 at its meetings on Sunday as the group slows its push to regain market share, amid fears of a looming supply glut.
American Petroleum Institute (API) reported that US crude stocks rose by 2.48 million barrels in the week ended November 28, while gasoline (petrol) inventories rose by 3.14 million barrels and distillate inventories rose by 2.88 million barrels from a week earlier. Official US government inventory data will be released later on Wednesday.