Oil prices rise amid focus on fears of falling supplies

Oil prices rose on Wednesday after Russia said peace talks with Ukraine had reached a dead end, fueling supply concerns, while weak economic data from China and Japan kept gains limited.

By 0808 GMT, Brent crude rose 48 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $105.12 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 28 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $100.88 a barrel. Both benchmarks rose more than 6 percent on Tuesday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine on Tuesday of obstructing peace talks and said Moscow would not abandon what it called a “special operation” to disarm its neighbor.

The International Energy Agency said on Tuesday it expected Russian oil production losses to average 1.5 million barrels per day in April, with losses increasing to nearly three million barrels per day from May.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) warned that it would be impossible to offset potential supply losses from Russia and indicated it would not pump more crude.

Oil prices also received support from reports this week of a partial easing of some strict anti-Covid-19 restrictions in China.

However, the gains were limited by weak economic data from China and Japan.