Oil prices were mostly steady on Thursday, paring losses of more than 1% earlier in the session, as a potential peace deal between Russia and Ukraine continued to exert downward pressure, but expectations of a pause in new U.S. tariffs fueled optimism.

Brent crude was down 17 cents, or 0.2%, at $75.01 a barrel by 11:15 a.m. CST (1715 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down 1 cent, or 0.1%, at $71.38.

U.S. President Donald Trump said in a social media post that he planned to announce reciprocal tariffs on Thursday, which could target any country that imposes duties on U.S. imports.

However, market participants said they understood the pause in tariffs would allow for negotiations into the second quarter.

"We're seeing a big recovery in prices on tariffs that aren't going to go into effect until April," said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group. "That will give time for negotiations."

Brent and WTI fell more than 2% on Wednesday after Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy expressed a desire for peace in separate phone calls with him and Trump ordered U.S. officials to begin talks to end the war in Ukraine.

The decline in oil prices over the past 24 hours appears to have been driven by a shift from supply concerns to ample supplies, said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo, adding that some market participants expect an increase in Russian energy exports.(Newsmaker)

Source: Investing.com