Shafaq News/ Oil prices fell on Wednesday after Russia agreed to U.S. President Donald Trump'sproposal that Moscow and Kyiv temporarily stop attacking each other's energyinfrastructure. This could lead to more Russian oil entering global markets.
Brent crude futures fell 19 cents, or 0.3%, to $70.37 a barrel by 0420GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) was down 20 cents, or 0.3%, to$66.70.Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on Tuesday to stop attacking Ukrainianenergy facilities but stopped short of endorsing a full 30-day ceasefire thatTrump hoped for."The agreement marks a positive step towards an eventual resolution, withthe halt of attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities reducing further oil supplydisruption risks and keeping oil prices under some pressure," said YeapJun Rong, market strategist at IG.
Russia is one of the world's top oil suppliers, but its output has wanedsince the beginning of the war, which resulted in sanctions on Russian energy.
A potential ceasefire could lead to an easing of sanctions, which mightraise oil supply and ease prices, analysts said.U.S. tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China have raised recession fears, whichalso weighed on oil prices as that would have a dampening effect on demand forcrude.
Oil markets remain focused on price downside despite rising Middle Easttensions, Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note on Wednesday.
"Tariff escalation and high spare capacity skew the medium-termrisks to our forecast to the downside," the analysts said.
Trump vowed to continue his country's assault on Yemen's Houthis andsaid he would hold Iran responsible for any attacks carried out by the groupthat has disrupted shipping in the Red Sea.Israeli air strikes in Gaza, meanwhile, killed at least 200 people, Palestinianhealth authorities said, which ended a week-long ceasefire and elevated risksof oil supply being threatened from the broader region.
U.S. crude oil stocks data, meanwhile, painted a mixed picture, withcrude stocks rising while fuel inventories fell.
Crude stocks were up 4.59 million barrels in the week ended March 14,market sources said, citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday.Gasoline inventories fell by 1.71 million barrels and distillate stocks weredown 2.15 million barrels, they said.
Official government data is due on Wednesday.
(Reuters)