WTI holds steady above $68.00, all eyes on OPEC meeting

WTI price trades sideways around $68.85 in Friday’s early Asian session. 

The ongoing Russia/Ukraine conflict highlighted risks to Russian oil supplies, which might lift the WTI price. 

OPEC postpones its next meeting on output policy to December 5 from December 1. 

West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the US crude oil benchmark, is trading around $68.85 on Friday. The WTI price steadies as the escalation in the Russia/Ukraine conflict offsets a less aggressive rate cut expectation from the Federal Reserve (Fed).

Oil traders will closely monitor the developments in the Russia/Ukraine conflict. Any signs of escalation could raise concerns about energy supplies, particularly winter gas flows to Central and Eastern Europe, boosting the WTI price. On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that if Ukraine gets nuclear weapons, Russia will use all means of destruction. 

Wednesday’s US economic data suggested that the progress on lowering inflation appears to have stalled in recent months, which could diminish the expectation for the Federal Reserve (Fed) to cut interest rates in 2025. However, they expect the Fed will leave rates unchanged at its meetings in January and March. It’s worth noting that slower-than-expected rate reductions would keep borrowing costs high, which could slow economic activity and lower oil demand.