Oil retreats as investor focus returns to Ukraine peace talks

LONDON: Oil prices fell more than $1 on Thursday as investors shifted focus back to Russia-Ukraine peace talks and monitored potential fallout from a US seizure of a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela.

Brent crude futures were down $1.1, or 1.8%, at $61.11 a barrel at 1408 GMT, hovering near the lowest since Oct. 21.

US West Texas Intermediate crude fell $1.07, also around 1.8%, to $57.39 a barrel, its lowest in over two weeks.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday that a visit to Moscow this month by US envoy Steve Witkoff had resolved misunderstandings between the two countries.

He added that Moscow had handed over Russia’s proposals on collective security guarantees to Washington. The benchmarks settled higher a day earlier after the US said it seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, as escalating tensions between the two countries raised concerns about supply disruptions.

“So far, the seizure has not trickled down to the market, but further escalation will impose heavy crude price volatility,” said Emril Jamil, a senior oil analyst at LSEG.

“The market remains in limbo, eyeing the Russian-Ukraine peace deal progress.” On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said “we’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, large tanker, very large, largest one ever, actually, and other things are happening.”

Trump administration officials did not name the vessel. British maritime risk management group Vanguard said the tanker, Skipper, was believed to have been seized off Venezuela.

Traders and industry sources said Asian buyers are demanding steep discounts on Venezuelan crude, pressured by a surge of sanctioned oil from Russia and Iran and heightened loading risks in the South American country as the US boosts its military presence in the Caribbean. Investors were more focused on developments in Russia-Ukraine peace talks.