Oil retreats from 7-year high as Russia says withdraws some troops | Reuters

Oil retreats from 7-year high as Russia says withdraws some troops | Reuters

Oil tumbled over 3% on Tuesday, retreating from a seven-year high after Russia said some of its military units were returning to their bases after exercises near Ukraine, a move that appeared to de-escalate tension between Moscow and the West.

It was not clear how many units were being withdrawn, and by what distance, after a build-up of an estimated 130,000 Russian troops. An earlier Interfax report on the troop movements had prompted oil to extend losses. read more

"We went from fearing that our worst fears would be realized to maybe there's a diplomatic offramp here after all. That brings a lot of relief in terms of keeping supplies on the market," said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital in New York. "We can't afford to lose a single barrel these days."

Brent crude fell $3.35, or 3.5% to $93.13 a barrel by 1:12 p.m. EST (1812 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude traded $3.66, or 3.8%, lower to $91.80 a barrel.

Both oil benchmarks hit their highest since September 2014 on Monday, with Brent touching $96.78 and WTI reaching $95.82. The price of Brent jumped 50% in 2021, while WTI soared around 60%, as a global recovery in demand from the COVID-19 pandemic strained supply.