Oil holds steady on reports of US-Russia deal
Oil largely held steady on Friday as markets awaited a meeting in coming days between Russian president Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump, but prices marked their steepest weekly losses since late June on a tariff-hit economic outlook.
Brent crude futures settled 16 cents, or 0.2%, higher at $66.59 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were unchanged at $63.88.
Brent fell 4.4% over the week, while WTI finished 5.1% lower than last Friday's close.
U.S. crude had fallen over 1% after reports that Washington and Moscow were aiming to reach a deal to halt the war in Ukraine that would lock in Russia's occupation of territory seized during its military invasion, Bloomberg News reported on Friday.
U.S. and Russian officials are working towards an agreement on territories for a planned summit meeting between Trump and Putin as early as next week, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.
The potential meeting raises expectations of a diplomatic end to the war in Ukraine, which could lead to eased sanctions on Russia, and comes as trade tensions have been on the rise between Trump and buyers of Russian oil.
This week, Trump threatened to increase tariffs on India if it kept purchasing Russian oil. Trump also said China, the largest buyer of Russian crude, could be hit with tariffs similar to those levied against Indian imports.
Source : Reuters
