Elsewhere, Russia’s Vladimir Putin spurned a challenge to meet face-to-face with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Turkey on Thursday, dealing a blow to prospects for a peace breakthrough.
Zelenskyy said Putin’s decision to send what he called a “decorative” lineup showed the Russian leader was not serious about ending the war.
“I think that is supportive because part of the bear case for prices is that if this Ukraine-Russia situation resolves itself then we can get that Russian supply onto the global market,” Kilduff said.
Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency lifted its oil demand growth forecast in 2025 to 740,000 barrels per day, up 20,000 bpd from the previous report, citing higher economic growth forecasts and lower oil prices supporting consumption.
The IEA said economic headwinds and record sales of electric vehicles are expected to reduce demand growth to 650,000 bpd for the remainder of the year, from growth of nearly 1 million bpd in the first quarter.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allied producers, known as OPEC+, has been increasing supply, although OPEC on Wednesday trimmed its forecast for growth in oil supply from the US and other producers outside the wider OPEC+ group this year.
Weighing on prices, data from the US Energy Information Administration on Wednesday showed crude stockpiles rose by 3.5 million barrels to 441.8 million barrels last week, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.1 million-barrel draw.
Black Sea CPC Blend crude oil exports are pencilled in at 1.6 million to 1.7 million bpd in June, several trading sources with knowledge of the month’s loadings told Reuters.
At that level, loadings will be higher than the approximately 1.5 million bpd scheduled for export in May.
