LONDON: Oil prices erased losses on Wednesday after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said sanctions against Russia or secondary tariffs could go up if Friday’s meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin does not go well.
Brent crude futures edged up 6 cents to $66.18 a barrel by 2:43 p.m. Saudi time, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 2 cents to $63.19.
Before Bessent’s comments, both contracts were lower after the International Energy Agency on Wednesday raised its forecast for oil supply growth this year but lowered its demand forecast due to lacklustre fuel demand across the major economies.
Still, the price moves were limited ahead of Trump’s meeting with Putin in Alaska to discuss ending Russia’s war in Ukraine, which has shaken oil markets since February 2022.
Meanwhile, in its monthly report on Tuesday, OPEC+ raised its global oil demand forecast for next year and trimmed estimates of supply growth from the United States and other producers outside the wider group, pointing to a tighter market.
“Were we to take an aggregate of the respective IEA and OPEC oil demand growth projections for 2025 at their respective bearish and bullish ends, even a modest middle figure, say just north of 1 million bpd, can easily be serviced by non-OPEC supply growth alone at the moment,” said independent energy analyst Gaurav Sharma.
“So, I don’t see a bullish case for oil over the near-term horizon.”
Meanwhile, crude inventories in the United States, the world’s biggest oil consumer, rose by 1.52 million barrels last week, market sources said, citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday.
Analysts polled by Reuters expect today’s Energy Information Administration report to show crude inventories fell by about 300,000 barrels last week.
