Ammon News - Oil prices were broadly stable on Thursday as investors shifted their focus back to Russia-Ukraine peace talks while watching for any fallout from a U.S. seizure of a sanctioned tanker off the coast of Venezuela.

Brent crude futures dipped 5 cents, or 0.08%, to $62.16 a barrel at 0400 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was down 1 cent, or 0.02%, at $58.45 a barrel.

The benchmarks settled higher a day earlier after the U.S. said it seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, as escalating tensions between the two countries raised concerns about supply disruptions.

"The market remains in limbo, eyeing the Russian-Ukraine peace deal progress."

On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump said "we've just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, large tanker, very large, largest one ever, actually, and other things are happening."

In other news, a sharply divided Federal Reserve reduced its benchmark interest rate. Lower rates can reduce consumer borrowing costs and boost economic growth and oil demand.

Meanwhile, a drawdown in U.S. crude inventories also lent support to prices even though the drop was milder than expected.

Crude inventories fell by 1.8 million barrels to 425.7 million barrels in the week ended December 5, the Energy Information Administration said in its weekly Petroleum Status Report, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a draw of 2.3 million barrels.

Reuters