Oil Rises As Moscow Rejects Peace Talks Provisions

Meanwhile, data shows Russian refining capacity impacted by Ukraine strikes: File Image/Pixabay

Moscow failing to reach a compromise in the peace talks with Ukraine brokered by the U.S. resulted  in a modest rise in oil prices on Wednesday, but a host of elements caused the commodity to remain stubbornly range bound.

After Russian president Vladimir Putin accused European powers of putting forward proposals they knew would be "absolutely unacceptable" to his country, Brent settled up 78 cents to $63.23 per barrel.

West Texas Intermediate settled up 85 cents to $59.49 per barrel.

Goldman Sachs analysts stated in a note, "Oil markets and prediction markets do not appear to price a large probability of a near-term peace agreement and removal of the sanctions on Russian oil."

Limiting Wednesday's gains was the American Petroleum Institute, which reported that U.S. crude stocks rose by 2.4 million barrels in the week ended November 28, gasoline inventories increased by 3.1 million barrels, and distillates rose by 2.8 million barrels.

These figures were later downsized by the Energy Information Administration, which verified that crude stocks grew by only 574,000 barrels; but the readjustment did little to sway bearish sentiment that has gripped the market for months now..

In other oil news on Wednesday, Hungary reported that oil from Russia resumed transport along the key Druzhba pipeline after being attacked by Ukraine drones earlier this week; the pipeline is one of the world's largest, with a capacity of up to 2 million barrels per day (bpd).

According to industry experts, Ukraine's continued bombardment of Russia oil infrastructure has cost  that country to lose about 10 percent of its total refining capacity, and this prompted Tatiana Mitrova,  a global fellow at the Center on Global Energy Policy, to remark that while not surprising, "It is still something that starts to be felt with the Russian domestic fuel crisis, with reduced oil refined products exports, and general tension inside the Russian oil sector."