Oil erases losses, closes flat

Oil drilling rigs

Oil prices wiped off losses and closed relatively stable today, Aug. 11, after falling more than 4% last week, as investors awaited the outcome of talks between the US and Russia later this week regarding the war in Ukraine.

At the close of trading, Brent crude settled at $66.63 per barrel, after falling to $65.81 during the session.

WTI crude rose 0.15%, or 8 cents, to $63.96 a barrel, after declining to $63.02 during the day.

The dollar index, which measures its value against a basket of major currencies, rose 0.35% to 98.54 points, as of 10:23 pm Makkah time.

Markets are awaiting direct talks between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, scheduled for Aug. 15 in Alaska, to discuss ending the war in Ukraine.

Separately, a recent Reuters survey showed that OPEC countries production rose to 27.38 million barrels per day last month, an increase of 270,000 barrels per day compared to June.

Meanwhile, Baker Hughes data showed that the number of rigs drilling for oil in the US rose by one last week, after declining over the previous 14 weeks.