Oil Prices Fall as Ukraine Peace Talks Advance

Brent futures went down by 51 cents or 0.7 per cent to settle at $70.56 a barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell by 68 cent, or 1.0 per cent to settle at $66.90 per barrel.

Mr Putin agreed on Tuesday to his US counterpart’s proposal for a month-long halt to strikes against energy infrastructure in Ukraine.

Ukraine President, Mr Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said his country would consider supporting the US proposal to stop strikes on energy infrastructure.

This latest move could result in a possible easing of sanctions on Russian fuel exports.

Some analysts said it would likely take a long while before Russian energy exports increase in a significant way.

Russia produced about 9.2 million barrels per day of crude in 2024, down from a recent high of 9.8 million barrels per day in 2022 and a record 10.6 million barrels per day in 2016.

Also on the supply side, the Trans-Niger Pipeline, one of Nigeria’s biggest pipelines carrying crude from the Niger Delta to the Bonny terminal, was rocked by a powerful explosion.

The explosion at Bodo, Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State, caused a massive fire at the section of the pipeline in the area and came as Nigeria has started to raise oil production and exports.

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies like Russia, known as OPEC+ have decided to proceed with a planned oil output increase in April.

Also, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) warned that US tariffs would reduce economic growth in the US, Canada and Mexico, and weigh on global energy demand.

Meanwhile, economic stimulus plans in China and Germany could boost demand for the fuel in two of the world’s biggest economies.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the US rose by 4.593 million barrels for the week ending March 14. So far this year, crude oil inventories have climbed more than 21 million barrels.

The official data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) will be released later on Wednesday.