WTI falls to near $56.50 as oversupply concerns rise ahead of upcoming Trump-Putin meet

• WTI declines as President Trump and Putin agree to meet in Hungary to discuss ending the war in Ukraine.
• Indian refiners signaled they would scale back Oil imports rather than impose a complete halt.
• EIA Crude Oil Stocks Change reported a 3.524 million-barrel rise last week, far above expectations of 0.12 million.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Oil price extended its losses and recorded a fresh five-month low of $56.52 during the Asian hours on Friday, currently trading around $56.70 per barrel. Crude Oil prices depreciate amid rising concerns over global energy supplies.

United States (US) President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to meet in Hungary to discuss ending the war in Ukraine, a move that could ease restrictions on Russian Oil and increase global supply. The development came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is set to meet President Trump at the White House on Friday to seek additional military aid, including US-made long-range Tomahawk missiles.

Washington also called on India and China to stop importing crude Oil from Russia. However, Indian refiners indicated they would scale back Oil imports rather than a complete halt, pending guidance from New Delhi, after Trump announced that the country would cease purchases.

Oil prices also received downward pressure after the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported on Thursday that US crude inventories increased by 3.524 million barrels last week, compared to market expectations of 0.12 million barrels. The larger-than-expected increase in crude inventories was mainly driven by reduced refinery utilization as facilities entered their fall maintenance period.

Traders adopt caution amid escalating trade tensions between the United States (US) and China, the world's two largest economies. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent criticized China's plans to restrict rare earth exports, calling them "economic coercion" and "a global supply chain power grab." Bessent warned, "If China wants to be an unreliable partner to the world, then the world will have to decouple," per BBC.