Finance
Oil falls on announcement of Trump-Putin meeting
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on August 7, 2025
3 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Global Banking and Finance Review
Company
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on August 7, 2025
3 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Oil prices decline as Trump-Putin meeting announcement raises hopes for Ukraine peace. OPEC production and US sanctions influence market.
By Stephanie Kelly
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Oil prices dropped on Thursday for a sixth consecutive session after the Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin would meet U.S. President Donald Trump in the coming days, raising expectations for a diplomatic end to the war in Ukraine.
Brent crude futures settled down 46 cents, or 0.7%, at $66.43 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 47 cents, or 0.7%, to $63.88.
Both benchmarks slid about 1% on Wednesday, touching their lowest in eight weeks, after comments from Trump on progress in talks with Moscow.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said on Thursday that Trump and Putin would meet in the coming days in what would be the first summit between leaders of the two countries since 2021.
A White House official had previously said that Trump could meet Putin as soon as next week.
The U.S., however, continued preparations to impose secondary sanctions on major buyers of Russian energy products to try to pressure Moscow to end the war in Ukraine.
Russia is the world's second-biggest producer of oil behind the United States.
The U.S. ordered a new set of tariffs on Indian goods. Trump imposed an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods on Wednesday, citing the country's continued imports of Russian oil. The new import tax will take effect on August 28.
India is the second-biggest buyer of Russian oil after China. Trump also said he could announce further tariffs on China.
Oil prices have dropped over 9% over the last week.
"Additional increases in OPEC production remain as the overriding negative consideration while continued tariff uncertainties are still providing the main argument favoring lower price levels," analysts at energy advisory firm Ritterbusch and Associates said in a note.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies including Russia, together known as OPEC+, agreed on Sunday to raise oil production by 547,000 barrels per day for September.
Thursday's selling was limited by a crude stockpile drawdown in the U.S., higher Saudi prices for Asia and solid Chinese crude imports in July, said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo.
The Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday that U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell by 3 million barrels to 423.7 million barrels in the week ended August 1, exceeding an expected decline of 591,000 barrels in a Reuters poll of analysts. [EIA/S]
In China, crude oil imports in July fell by 5.4% from June but were still up 11.5% year-on-year, with analysts expecting refining activity to remain firm in the near term.
Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, on Wednesday raised its September crude oil prices for Asian buyers, the second monthly rise in a row, on tight supply and robust demand.
(Reporting by Stephanie Kelly; Additional reporting by Yuka Obayashi and Trixie Yap. Editing by Mark Potter, Barbara Lewis and Nia Williams)
Oil prices dropped for a sixth consecutive session after the announcement of a meeting between Trump and Putin, with Brent crude futures settling down 46 cents at $66.43 a barrel.
The meeting is significant as it would be the first summit between the leaders since 2021, amidst ongoing tensions related to the war in Ukraine and U.S. sanctions on Russian energy products.
OPEC and its allies agreed to raise oil production by 547,000 barrels per day for September, which is seen as a negative consideration for oil prices amid tariff uncertainties.
The U.S. imposed an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods, citing continued imports of Russian oil, which could further impact global oil trade dynamics.
The Energy Information Administration reported that U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell by 3 million barrels to 423.7 million barrels, exceeding expectations for a decline.
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