Following a roughly 3% decline last week, oil prices took a break on Monday as investors assessed the likelihood of a US rate decrease against the possibility of a Russia-Ukraine agreement that may ease sanctions and allow additional Russian supply.
Ahead of a deadline set by US President Donald Trump on Thursday, the United States and Ukraine were scheduled to continue work on a revised plan for the peace agreement after agreeing to modify a previous version that critics claimed was too favorable to Moscow.
West Texas Intermediate was down 7 cents, or 0.12%, at $57.99 per barrel, while Brent crude futures dropped 3 cents, or 0.05%, to $62.53 per barrel. The settlements for both benchmarks were the lowest since October 21.
Nearly 48 million barrels of Russian crude are now stuck at sea due to the sanctions. Although European leaders are working to make the deal better, Trump has set a deadline of Thursday. Sanctions that have reduced Russian oil shipments could be lifted with a peace agreement.
According to the US Energy Information Administration, Russia was the world’s second-largest producer of crude oil in 2024, after the US. Investor appetites are also being suppressed by uncertainty about the US interest rate reduction.
