Oil retreats as investors' focus returns to Ukraine peace talks

By Erwin Seba

HOUSTON, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell more than $1 a barrel on Thursday as investors shifted their focus back to Russia-Ukraine peace talks and saw no fallout from Ukrainian drone strikes or a U.S. seizure of a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela.

Brent crude futures LCOc1 were down $1.18, or 1.9%, at $61.03 a barrel at 11:37 a.m. CST (1737 GMT), hovering near the lowest price since October 21.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 fell $1.14, down 1.95%, to $57.32 a barrel, its lowest price in more than two weeks.

"There was a little bit of support following news of the drone strikes," said Phil Flynn, senior analyst with the Price Futures Group. "But there seems to be some movement on a possible path to peace between Russia and Ukraine. That took the support out of the market."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday that a visit to Moscow this month by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff had resolved misunderstandings between the two countries.

Lavrov added that Moscow had handed over Russia's proposals on collective security guarantees to Washington.

The benchmarks settled higher a day earlier after the U.S. said it seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, as escalating tensions between the two countries raised concerns about supply disruptions.

"So far, the seizure has not trickled down to the market, but further escalation will impose heavy crude price volatility," said Emril Jamil, a senior oil analyst at LSEG.

"The market remains in limbo, eyeing the Russian-Ukraine peace deal progress."

STEEP DISCOUNTS DEMANDED ON VENEZUELAN CRUDE

On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump said "we've just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, large tanker, very large, largest one ever, actually, and other things are happening."

Trump administration officials did not name the vessel.

British maritime risk management group Vanguard said the tanker, named Skipper, was believed to have been seized off the coast of Venezuela.

Traders and industry sources said Asian buyers are demanding steep discounts on Venezuelan crude, pressured by a surge of sanctioned oil from Russia and Iran and heightened loading risks in the South American country as the U.S. boosts its military presence in the Caribbean.

Investors were more focused on developments in Russia-Ukraine peace talks. The leaders of Britain, France and Germany held a call with Trump to discuss Washington's latest peace efforts to end the war in Ukraine, in what they said was a "critical moment" in the process.

Ukrainian drones struck an oil rig belonging to Russia in the Caspian Sea for the first time, halting the facility's extraction of oil and gas, a source at the Security Service of Ukraine told Reuters on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency upgraded its 2026 global oil demand growth forecasts while trimming its supply growth predictions in its latest monthly oil market report on Thursday, implying a slightly narrower surplus next year.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which also released its monthly report on Thursday, kept its forecasts for 2025 and 2026 world oil demand growth unchanged.

In other economic indicators, a sharply divided Federal Reserve reduced its benchmark interest rate, with policymakers suggesting they would likely pause further cuts. Lower rates can reduce consumer borrowing costs and boost economic growth and oil demand.