Brent crude settled at $68.53, up 48 cents (0.7%), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose 42 cents (0.7%) to close at $64.57. Both benchmarks had been down about 1% earlier in the session before recovering on headlines out of Washington.
Russia’s latest attacks killed at least 21 people in Kyiv, while Ukraine said it struck two Russian refineries with drones, underscoring the fragility of energy infrastructure amid the conflict. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump would make a statement later in the day.
Traders are also watching for India’s response after the U.S. doubled tariffs on its imports to 50% on Wednesday over continued purchases of Russian crude. Dealers said India’s September imports from Moscow are still set to rise, defying U.S. pressure.
Earlier weakness in crude reflected seasonal demand concerns as the U.S. summer driving season winds down after Labor Day. Supply-side pressure also looms with OPEC+ poised to raise September output by 547,000 bpd, while Russian exports through the Druzhba pipeline to Hungary and Slovakia restarted after last week’s outage.
Analysts at Ritterbusch and Associates said the combination of tapering demand and higher supply points to a rise in inventories heading into fall. “That will weigh on energy futures across the spectrum as refiners shift to the lower-priced winter blend,” they noted.