Oil prices fell slightly on Friday morning after Trump and Putin agreed to meet in Hungary
Oil prices fell slightly early Friday and are heading for a weekly decline due to uncertainty surrounding global energy supplies after Trump and Putin agreed to meet in Hungary to end the war in Ukraine.
Brent crude futures fell 8 cents, or 0.13%, to $60.98 a barrel by GMT 12:30 a.m., while WTI futures fell 9 cents, or 0.16%, to $57.37.
Both indices fell about 3% for the week, partly due to the International Energy Agency's (IEA) forecast for a growing supply glut in 2026.
Trump and Putin's agreement on Thursday for a new summit on the war in Ukraine may have been driven by Moscow's concerns about renewed US military support for Kyiv. The meeting is expected to take place in Budapest within the next two weeks.
This development comes as Trump demands more military support, including Tomahawk missiles, and pressures India and China to halt their purchases of Russian oil.
Following Trump's announcement that he will meet with Putin to discuss ending the war in Ukraine, concerns about a supply shortage have subsided.
Also weighing on prices, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported on Thursday that U.S. crude oil inventories increased by 3.5 million barrels last week to 423.8 million barrels. This was well above analysts' expectations of a 288,000 barrel increase.
The larger-than-expected increase in crude oil inventories was largely due to reduced refining use as refineries reopened in the fall.
The data also showed that U.S. production rose to a record 13.636 million barrels per day.
In the previous session, Brent crude closed down 1.37%, while WTI crude closed down 1.39%, its lowest level since May 5.
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