Oil prices stable amid focus on attacks on Russian oil assets and peace talks

Oil prices remained stable on Thursday as market attention focused on attacks on Russian oil assets, while “stalled peace talks dampened expectations of a deal to resume Russian oil supplies,” Reuters reported, according to UNN.

DetailsBrent crude oil rose 35 cents, or 0.6%, to $63.02 per barrel at 13:26 GMT (15:26 Kyiv time), while US West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 41 cents, or 0.7%, to $59.36 per barrel.

Following reports of an attack on the Druzhba oil pipeline in Russia’s Tambov region, the fifth attack on the pipeline that transports Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia, the pipeline operator and the Hungarian oil and gas company later stated that pipeline supplies were operating normally.

“Ukraine’s drone campaign against Russian oil refining infrastructure has entered a more sustained and strategically coordinated phase,” said a research report by consulting firm Kpler.

“This has led to a reduction in Russian oil refining volumes to approximately 5 million barrels per day between September and November, which is 335,000 barrels per day less than a year earlier. Gasoline was most affected, and gas oil production also significantly decreased,” the report said.

“The feeling that progress on a peace plan for Ukraine has stalled” reportedly also supported prices after representatives of US President Donald Trump walked out of peace talks with the Kremlin without any concrete breakthroughs on ending the war.

“War and politics, combined with comfortable inventories, an expected supply surplus, and OPEC’s market share strategy, are currently keeping Brent crude oil prices in the $60-70 range,” PVM analysts noted.

Earlier, expectations of an end to the war put pressure on prices, as traders expected a deal to allow Russian oil to return to an already oversupplied global market.

Meanwhile, US oil and fuel inventories rose last week due to increased refining activity, the Energy Information Administration reported on Wednesday.

On Thursday, Fitch Ratings lowered its oil price forecasts for 2025-2027, reflecting an oversupply in the market and expected production growth outpacing demand.

Russian oil volumes at sea increased by a fifth in three months – Bloomberg03.12.25, 10:11 • 3046 views