Oil prices fell on Thursday on expectations that a potential peace deal between Ukraine and Russia would end sanctions that have disrupted supply flows while crude inventories rose in major producer the United States.
Brent futures fell 68 cents (0.9%) to $74.50 a barrel while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 65 cents (0.9%) to $70.72.
Brent and WTI fell more than 2% on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy expressed a desire for peace in separate phone calls with him.
Trump ordered top U.S. officials to begin talks on ending the war in Ukraine.
Russia is the world's third-largest oil producer and sanctions imposed on crude exports following its invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago have supported its prices higher.
A build-up in crude inventories in the United States, the world's biggest crude consumer, also weighed on markets.
US crude oil inventories rose more than expected last week, data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed on Wednesday.
Crude oil inventories rose by 4.1 million barrels to 427.9 million barrels in the week ended February 7.
