Oil rose on Wednesday as the American Petroleum Institute reported a drop in U.S. crude inventories and investors awaited the next steps in talks to end the Ukraine war, with sanctions on Russian crude remaining in place for now.
Prices for Brent Crude Brent rose 66 cents, or 1%, to $66.45 U.S. a barrel early Wednesday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures for September delivery, set to expire on Wednesday, gained 78 cents, or 1.25%, to $63.13 U.S..
Crude fell more than 1% on Tuesday on optimism that an agreement to end the war seemed closer. However, U.S. President Donald Trump conceded that Russian President Vladimir Putin might not want to make a deal.
Trump said on Tuesday the United States might provide air support as part of a deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
A day earlier, Trump said he was arranging a meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to be followed by a trilateral summit among the three presidents. Russia has not confirmed it will take part in talks with Zelenskiy.
BP said on Tuesday operations at its 440,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Whiting, Indiana, were affected by flooding after a severe thunderstorm, potentially weighing on crude demand at the facility.
