Finance
Oil rises 1% on stalled Russia-Ukraine peace talks, strong US demand
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on August 21, 2025
3 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on August 21, 2025
3 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Oil prices increased by 1% as Russia-Ukraine peace talks stalled, with strong US demand further supporting the market.
By Shariq Khan and Seher Dareen
NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) -Oil prices rose by nearly a dollar a barrel on Thursday as Russia and Ukraine blamed each other for a stalled peace process, and as earlier U.S. data showed signs of strong demand in the top oil consuming nation.
Brent crude futures were up 85 cents, or about 1.3%, at $67.69 a barrel at 1:42 p.m. EDT (1742 GMT), having hit a two-week high earlier in the session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 86 cents, or 1.4%, at $63.57 a barrel.
Both contracts climbed more than 1% in the prior session.
The path to peace in Ukraine remained uncertain, turning oil traders cautious after a selloff over the past two weeks on hopes that U.S. President Donald Trump would soon negotiate a diplomatic end to Russia's war with its neighbor.
Both Moscow and Kyiv have since blamed each other for stalling the peace process. Russia on Thursday launched a major air attack near Ukraine's border with the European Union, while Ukraine claimed to have hit a Russian oil refinery.
"Some geopolitical risk premium is slowly being pumped back into the market," oil trading advisory firm Ritterbusch and Associates told clients on Thursday.
The uncertainty in the peace talks means that the possibility of tighter sanctions on Russia has resurfaced, said Tamas Varga, an analyst at PVM Oil Associates.
Oil prices were also supported by a larger-than-expected drawdown from U.S. crude stockpiles in the last week, indicating strong demand.
U.S. crude stockpiles fell 6 million barrels in the week ended August 15, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported on Wednesday, while analysts had expected a draw of 1.8 million barrels. [EIA/S]
"These tight domestic stockpiles stand in contrast to the oversupply outlook projected by both the IEA and EIA for 2026, challenging traders' broader market expectations," StoneX analyst Alex Hodes told clients.
Investors were also looking to the Jackson Hole economic conference in Wyoming for signals on a possible Fed interest rate cut next month. The annual gathering of central bankers begins on Thursday, with Fed Chair Jerome Powell scheduled to speak on Friday.
(Reporting by Shariq Khan, Katya Golubkova, Siyi Liu and Seher Dareen Editing by Rod Nickel and Paul Simao, Kirsten Donovan)
A crude stockpile refers to the stored reserves of crude oil held by a country or company. These reserves can be used to meet demand fluctuations and are an important indicator of market supply.
Brent crude oil is a major trading classification of crude oil originating from the North Sea. It serves as a global benchmark for oil prices and is used to price two-thirds of the world's oil.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is a grade of crude oil used as a benchmark in oil pricing. It is sourced from the U.S. and is known for its light and sweet characteristics.
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