Crude oil turns higher as Trump, Zelensky meet; Navarro slams India's Russian crude purchases

[Data analyzing in commodities energy market: the charts and quotes on display. US WTI crude oil price analysis. Stunning price drop for the last 20 years.]
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Crude oil futures climbed Monday as President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky held talks in Washington following Friday's U.S.-Russia summit in Alaska, with investors watching for clues on potential ramifications for global oil supply.

Trump, now striving for a peace deal instead of a ceasefire first, told Zelensky to give up hopes of getting back Crimea or joining NATO.

"I don't believe the oil market has priced in a full peace dividend that potentially could see prices of crude and E.U. gas suffer further setbacks," Saxo Bank commodities strategist Ole Hansen said in a note.

Meanwhile, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro raised eyebrows when he said India's purchases of Russian crude were funding the war in Ukraine and needed to stop.

Navarro's "sharp words on India's Russian crude imports, paired with postponed trade talks, revive concerns that energy flows remain hostage to trade and diplomatic frictions, even as peace prospects in Ukraine brighten," Phillip Nova analyst Priyanka Sachdeva said in a note.

Investors are also watching for clues on U.S. interest rates from Federal Reserve Chairman Powell's comments later this week at the annual Jackson Hole symposium.

Front-month Nymex crude (CL1:COM [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CL1:COM]) for September delivery closed +1% to $63.42/bbl, and front-month Brent crude (CO1:COM [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CO1:COM]) for October delivery finished +1.1% to $66.60/bbl.

U.S. natural gas futures (NG1:COM [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/NG1:COM]) fell Monday as weather forecasts turned milder, limiting implied power sector demand for gas; the front-month Nymex September contract settled -0.9% at $2.890/MMBtu.

Two of the largest U.S. liquefied natural gas export plants recorded major declines in demand for natural gas on Monday, suggesting parts of their facilities might be down, Reuters reported.

Cheniere Energy's (LNG [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/LNG]) Sabine Pass export facility in Texas - the largest U.S. LNG plant, utilizing up to 4.5B cf/day of natural gas - was down to 3.7B cf, and Sempra's (SRE [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/SRE]) Cameron LNG plant in Louisiana, which processes 2B cf/day, was down to 1.3B cf, according to the report [https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/gas-demand-two-top-us-lng-plants-declines-2025-08-18/], which cited LSEG data.

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