Oil Steadies After Early Surge as Traders Mull Moody’s Downgrade

Bloomberg.com · last updated May 18, 2025 – 7:19 PM

Oil steadied after an early drop, with talks to end the war in Ukraine and a lowering of the US credit rating in focus.

Brent fell as much as 1.1% to below $65 a barrel before recovering, while West Texas Intermediate traded near $62. US President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will speak by phone later on Monday, although the Russian leader may believe he has the upper hand in the fighting and therefore be unlikely to make concessions.

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