By Nicole Jao
(Reuters) -Oil prices edged lower in early trade on Friday, heading for a weekly loss, with uncertainty over global energy supplies after U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to meet in Hungary to discuss ending the war in Ukraine.
Brent crude futures fell 8 cents, or 0.13%, lower at $60.98 a barrel at 0030 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were down 9 cents, or 0.16%, at $57.37.
On a weekly basis, both benchmarks were down nearly 3%, partly due to the International Energy Agency’s outlook for a growing supply glut in 2026.
Trump and Putin agreed on Thursday to another summit on the war in Ukraine, a surprise move that came as Moscow feared fresh U.S. military support for Kyiv. The meeting may be held within the next two weeks in Budapest.
The development came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was headed to the White House on Friday to push for more military support, including U.S.-made long-range Tomahawk missiles, while Washington pressured India and China to stop buying Russian oil.
“Concerns of tighter supplies were eased after it was announced that Trump would be meeting with Putin to discuss ending the war in Ukraine,” Daniel Hynes, an analyst at ANZ, said in a note.
Also weighing on prices, the Energy Information Administration said on Thursday U.S. crude inventories increased by 3.5 million barrels to 423.8 million barrels last week, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 288,000-barrel rise.
The bigger-than-expected build in crude inventory was largely due to lower refining utilization as refineries go into fall turnarounds. [EIA/S]
The data also showed a rise in U.S. production to 13.636 million barrels per day, the highest on record.
In the previous session, Brent settled 1.37% lower and U.S. WTI closed down 1.39%, their lowest since May 5.
(Reporting by Nicole Jao in New York; Editing by Sonali Paul)
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