Oil prices traded within a tight range during Asian deals on Wednesday as concerns about rising inventories and weak demand overshadowed hopes that renewed Ukraine peace efforts might eventually unlock additional supply.
By 3:30 pm AEDT (4:30 am GMT), Brent crude added 5 cents, or 0.1%, to US$62.50 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate remained little changed at $58.66 per barrel.
In the previous session, Brent crude and WTI each declined by 1.1%.
Investors are closely watching diplomatic efforts after the Russian government confirmed that a five-hour meeting between President Vladimir Putin and envoys of U.S. President Donald Trump ended without any compromise on a potential Ukraine peace deal.
Any breakthrough is seen as key to the possible easing of sanctions on Russian oil companies, including Rosneft and Lukoil, which could free up restricted barrels.
Market confidence has also been shaken by heightened geopolitical risks. Putin on Tuesday accused European powers of blocking U.S. attempts to end the conflict by proposing terms “absolutely unacceptable” to Moscow, dimming hopes that peace efforts might broaden Russian access to global buyers beyond China and India.
The war continues to disrupt oil infrastructure, with Ukraine stepping up drone attacks on Russian energy assets. Recent strikes have hit export facilities on Russia’s Black Sea coast.
Separately, sources told Reuters that the Caspian Pipeline Consortium aims to complete repairs to its third single-point mooring ahead of schedule, restoring full export capacity after an earlier drone strike.
ANZ analysts said: "Over the past week, four Russian oil tankers have been attacked, a sharp up-tick in strikes on its ships. U.S. sanctions on Russia’s oil industry appear to be making it difficult for the OPEC+ alliance member to deliver its oil.
"While Russia has maintained shipments comfortably above 3mb/d, offloading cargo has become more difficult. The average voyage time for ships travelling between Russia and China is up by 50% to 12 days.
"This has seen a sharp increase in the amount of Russian oil on tankers at sea, which topped 180mbbl at the end of November."
Adding to concerns, U.S. crude inventories are climbing. The American Petroleum Institute reported that crude stocks rose by 2.48 million barrels in the week to 28 November.
Gasoline inventories increased by 3.14 million barrels, and distillate inventories by 2.88 million barrels. Official figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration are due later in Wednesday's U.S. session.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that OPEC+ members will undertake an annual review of their production capacity starting next year, with the results to be used when setting output quotas for 2027 in a move aimed at better aligning targets with actual capacity.
