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Oil prices fall at settlement after Kremlin announces upcoming meeting with Trump
Oil prices fell during trading on Thursday, August 7, after losing earlier gains, as the Kremlin announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin would meet with US President Donald Trump in the coming days, increasing expectations that the war in Ukraine was nearing an end.
Brent crude futures fell 46 cents, or 0.69%, to $66.43 a barrel at settlement.
U.S. crude futures fell 47 cents, or 0.73%, to settle at $63.88 a barrel.
Both crude oil futures continued their losses after falling by about 1% on Wednesday, reaching their lowest levels in eight weeks, following the US President's comments about progress in talks with Russia.
On Thursday, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said that the Russian and US presidents would meet in the coming days, marking the first summit between the two heads of state since 2021.
This comes after a White House official earlier said the Russian and US presidents could meet as soon as next week.
However, US preparations continued to impose secondary sanctions on major importers of Russian energy products, with the aim of pressuring Moscow to work toward ending the war with Kyiv.
The United States announced on Wednesday the imposition of a 25% tariff on Indian goods, citing India's continued import of Russian oil. The additional tariffs are scheduled to take effect on August 28.
Since last week, oil prices have fallen by about 9%, posting six consecutive sessions of losses.
On Sunday, the OPEC+ group, which includes OPEC and allies led by Russia, decided to increase its oil production by 547,000 barrels per day during September.
