Oil prices were mostly steady in Asian trading on Wednesday, recovering slightly after a roughly 1% decline in the previous session.
Ongoing concerns that global supply may continue to outpace demand kept gains muted, while traders also monitored developments in high-level diplomatic efforts to advance peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.
By 3:30 pm AEDT (4:30 am GMT), Brent crude futures were up 10 cents, or 0.2%, to US$62.04 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude mirrored the move, rising 10 cents, or 0.2%, to US$58.35 per barrel.
The geopolitical backdrop remained a key driver of sentiment. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv and its European partners will soon present the United States with “refined documents” outlining a peace plan aimed at ending the conflict with Russia.
His comments followed several days of intense diplomatic exchanges.
Analysts at ANZ commented in a note to clients: “President Trump said Russia is in the stronger position in its war on Ukraine and chided European leaders for what he called excessive talk that’s produced scant results.
"This raised concerns that restrictions on Russian oil supplies could be eased, as Trump pushes for Ukraine to accept a peace deal.”
On the supply side, updated forecasts from the Energy Information Administration added to market caution. The agency said it now expects U.S. crude production to reach an even higher record this year than previously projected, lifting its 2025 estimate by 20,000 barrels per day to an average of 13.61 million bpd.
However, it trimmed its 2026 output forecast by 50,000 bpd, projecting total production of 13.53 million bpd.
