By Anna Hirtenstein
LONDON (Reuters) – Oil prices steadied on Monday as investors awaited clarity on talks to end the war in Ukraine and weighed up the prospect of a resumption in crude exports from northern Iraq.
Brent futures were down 6 cents, or 0.1%, at $74.37 barrel by 1302 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures declined by 14 cents, or 0.2%, to $70.26.
Both Brent and WTI dropped by more than $2 on Friday, registering weekly declines of 0.4% and 0.5% respectively.
All eyes remain on efforts to end Russia’s war on Ukraine, which enters its fourth year on Monday. Officials said on Sunday that European Union leaders will meet for an extraordinary summit on March 6 to discuss additional support for Ukraine and European security guarantees.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday that he was willing to step down if it meant peace for his country.
U.S. President Donald Trump has initiated talks with Russia without inviting Ukraine or the European Union to the table. A senior Russian diplomat said Russian and U.S. teams plan to meet for further discussions this week.
Sanctions imposed by the U.S. and EU on Russian oil exports have disrupted seaborne oil supply flows, but an end to the war in Ukraine would not necessarily increase Russian supplies to the market because the country is a member of the OPEC+ group that has curbed production.
However, oil prices could still drop because of a decrease in geopolitical risk, said Harry Tchilinguiran, head of research at Onyx Capital Group.
Oil prices will be influenced by geopolitical developments and U.S. policy announcements in the short term, said Sugandha Sachdeva, founder of New Delhi research firm SS WealthStreet.
An expected increase in supply from Iraq is also weighing on prices, analysts say, though the timing of a resumption in flows through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline is still unclear.
Iraq will export 185,000 barrels per day from Kurdistan’s oilfields through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline once oil shipments resume, an Iraqi oil ministry official said on Sunday.
(Reporting by Anna Hirtenstein; Additional reporting by Mohi Narayan and Emily Chow; Editing by David Goodman)
