Oil sinks 2% after Trump calls Putin, Zelensky to discuss end to war in Ukraine
Brent futures settled down US$1.82, or 2.36 per cent, at US$75.18 a barrel.
OIL prices settled down more than 2 per cent on Wednesday (Feb 12) after US President Donald Trump took the first big step towards diplomacy over the war in Ukraine he has promised to end, a war that has supported oil prices on concerns about global supplies.
Brent futures settled down US$1.82, or 2.36 per cent, at US$75.18 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude settled down US$1.95, or 2.66 per cent, to US$71.37.
US crude futures fell more than US$2 at their session low. The declines follow three days of gains, during which Brent climbed 3.6 per cent and WTI rose 3.7 per cent.
US President Donald Trump discussed the war in Ukraine in phone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“Trump doing peace talks, I think that has taken some of the risk premium out of oil prices right now,” said Phil Flynn, senior analyst with Price Futures Group.
In a post on his social media platform, Trump said he and Putin had “agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately, and we will begin by calling President Zelensky, of Ukraine, to inform him of the conversation, something which I will be doing right now”.
Zelensky’s office said Trump and Zelensky had spoken by phone for about an hour.
Investors also tried to gauge the Federal Reserve’s next moves on cutting interest rates following comments on Tuesday by Fed chair Jerome Powell and after data on Wednesday showed US consumer prices increased more than expected in January.
“The combination of higher inflation and the possibility of peace (in Ukraine) is causing a bit of a sell-off in the market at the moment,” said Price Futures Group’s Flynn.
Read More: Here