Oil Falls on Ukraine Cease-Fire Progress, With Brent at $60.56 and WTI at $56.82

Overview

• Brent for February settled down 0.91% at $60.56 on ICE and January WTI fell 1.08% to $56.82 on Nymex, with WTI trading at its lowest level since 2021.
• Futures reversed early gains after a U.S. delegation reported “great progress” in Russia–Ukraine talks set to resume, and President Volodymyr Zelensky called U.S. discussions “very constructive.”
• Market analysis highlighted that a cease-fire could lead to suspension of sanctions on Russian oil, potentially increasing exports into an already soft market.
• Weak economic readings from China weighed on demand expectations as strategists emphasized that perceptions of ample near‑term supply are overriding isolated risk premiums.
• Tensions between the United States and Venezuela, including a reported tanker seizure, remained a volatility risk with limited effect today, and both benchmarks are down more than 4% over the past week.