Oil soars over 2%, nears $62

Oil drilling rigs

Oil prices rose at the close of trading today, Dec. 29, amid concerns about disruptions to Middle East supplies, along with escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

Brent crude futures for February delivery rose 2.14% or $1.30 to $61.94 a barrel, recovering most of Friday's 2.57% loss.

WTI crude oil futures for February delivery also rose by 2.36%, or $1.34, to $58.08 a barrel.

Market focus shifted to the Middle East at the start of the week, as instability in Yemen continued to fuel concerns about disruptions to oil supplies.

On the other hand, Russia accused Ukraine of launching a drone attack on the residence of President Vladimir Putin, saying that this escalation would change its negotiating position during peace talks with its neighbor.

Kyiv denied these Russian claims, arguing that Moscow was looking for "false pretexts" to carry out new strikes on its territory.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced earlier in the day that significant progress had been made in talks with his American counterpart, Donald Trump, during a bilateral meeting over the weekend.

Zelensky stated that both sides agreed that working groups would meet during the next week to finalize issues aimed at ending the war with Russia.