WTI at $58 on Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks, Fed Cut Optimism


   
Barani Krishnan
DTN Refined Fuels Market Reporter

   SECAUCUS, NJ (DTN) - Crude futures rebounded Monday (11/24) as growing 
optimism for a Federal Reserve rate cut in December offset concerns about the 
potential re-entry of Russian oil into the global marketplace if a U.S. peace 
plan for Ukraine succeeds.

   The NYMEX WTI crude futures contract for January delivery settled up $0.78 
at $58.84 bbl. January ICE Brent futures contract rose $0.80 to $62.36 bbl.

   Downstream, the December RBOB gasoline futures contract climbed by $0.0139 
at $1.8973 gallon. Front-month ULSD futures, however, bucked the higher trend, 
dropping $0.0489 to $2.4075 gallon.

   The U.S. Dollar Index eased 0.023 points to 100.09 against a basket of 
foreign currencies.

   Oil prices rose amid broader risk appetite across markets, following calls 
on Friday by senior Fed officials John Williams and Christopher Waller for a 
cut in U.S. lending rates in December to balance unemployment risks with 
inflation growth.

   If this week's U.S. economic data reinforces the caution expressed by 
Federal Reserve officials, it could open the door to rate cuts sooner rather 
than later, Fawad Razaqzada, a commodities analyst at StoneX in London, said in 
a note Monday.

   The Federal Reserve has already cut rates by quarter percentage points 
back-to-back between September and October and another reduction would likely 
bolster investor sentiment across markets.

   U.S.-brokered Russia-Ukraine peace talks aimed at ending the near four-year 
war between the two countries have been highly productive, the White House 
announced on its website on Sunday (11/23).

   Peace in Ukraine could further diminish geopolitical tensions, without which 
crude prices have trended lower -- particularly after the October signing of 
the Israel-Hamas agreement which ended the two-year long Gaza war.

   The lifting of trade sanctions against and removal of sanctions against 
Russian energy firms Rosneft and Lukoil would add further downward pressure on 
oversupplied crude markets.

   OPEC projected a 500,000-bpd crude surplus for the third quarter, reversing 
the 400,000-bpd deficit it forecasted in October. The IEA forecasted a 4.09 
million bpd global oversupply for 2026, versus a prior 3.97 million bpd.

   Separately, the Energy Information Administration estimated that U.S. crude 
production hit a record-high13.76 million bpd in the third quarter.

    




(c) Copyright 2025 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.