Oil rises from 2-mth lows with Trump-Putin meeting in focus

Investing.com-- Oil prices rose marginally in Asian trade on Thursday as focus remained squarely on how an upcoming meeting between U.S. and Russian leaders will affect supplies.

Crude was nursing a second week of outsized losses amid persistent concerns over cooling demand, and had fallen sharply on Wednesday after data showed an unexpected build in U.S. inventories.

Brent oil futures for October rose 0.4% to $65.88 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 0.3% to $62.13 a barrel by 21:58 ET (01:58 GMT).

Trump-Putin meeting on Ukraine awaited

U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are set to meet in Alaska on Friday to discuss terms for a ceasefire with Ukraine.

Trump on Wednesday threatened “severe consequences” if Putin did not agree to peace. The U.S. president had earlier threatened steep tariffs on major buyers of Russian oil, namely India and China.

Trump’s delivering on this threat, coupled with any more restrictions on Russia’s oil industry, stand to curb global oil supplies, and could spur some strength in crude prices.

Reports showed that Trump does not see an imminent end to the Ukraine conflict, and plans to offer Russia several concessions to back off from Kyiv. Any loosening of sanctions on Moscow’s energy industry could in turn further dent oil prices, given that fears of a supply glut have been a major weight on crude this year.

Oil battered by supply outlook, US inventory build

Oil’s losses this week were driven by bearish supply forecasts from both the U.S. government and the International Energy Agency.

The IEA warned that global oil supplies appeared “bloated,” especially after the OPEC+ steadily hiked its production this year.

The agency also warned of a looming supply glut in 2025 and 2026, and that demand would cool in the coming months. The IEA sees an oil surplus of 3 million barrels per day in 2026.

Bearishness towards oil markets was furthered by U.S. data showing a 3 million barrel build in inventories over the past week, which overshot market expectations for a 0.9 million barrel draw.

The print highlighted a coming end to the travel-heavy U.S. summer season, which usually sees three months of elevated fuel demand in the country.

But demand usually peters out through autumn and towards winter.