Crude oil has narrowly mixed range, and the European price cap plan is difficult to produce

International crude oil futures fluctuated in a relatively narrow range on Thursday (Nov.
24), hovering near two-month lows as EU member states were deeply divided over the upper limit of Russian crude prices
.

By the close, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) January contract, the most actively traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), was up $0.
02 at $77.
96 a barrel
.

Brent crude futures, the global benchmark, for January ended down $0.
29, or 0.
3 percent, at $85.
12 a barrel
.

On Thursday (Nov.
24), European diplomats reached an impasse in negotiations over a ceiling on Russian crude prices, highlighting divisions
within the bloc.
The European Commission proposed a price cap of $65, which most member states accepted, but Poland considered it too high, while Greece wanted a price cap of no less than $70
.
Negotiations on the G7-led proposal were scheduled to resume on Thursday evening (November 24), but were postponed
due to serious differences among member states.
Some say talks could resume on Friday or later
.

Crude oil prices plunged more than 3% on Wednesday (November 23) as the G7 proposed a ceiling on Russian crude prices higher than the current real market price of Russian crude oil, easing fears that
Russia's retaliation would lead to reduced crude oil supplies.

European officials say the G7 is considering capping the price of Russian seaborne oil at between $65 and $70 a barrel, although EU governments have yet to agree
on a price.
A higher price ceiling could increase Russia's attractiveness to continue exporting crude while reducing the likelihood of retaliation, thereby reducing the risk of
a global supply shortage.
Russia said it does not intend to supply oil and gas to countries that support price caps, but will make a final decision
after analyzing the data.
Analysts pointed out that considering that the current price of Russian crude oil exports is already below the proposed price ceiling, this means that Russian exports will not be interrupted
.
Some Indian refineries are paying $25 to $35 per barrel for Russian Urals crude compared to the international Brent crude price
, the sources said.

The U.
S.
Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday that a sharp increase in U.
S.
gasoline and distillate inventories last week also put some pressure
on oil prices.
But in the week ended Nov.
18, U.
S.
crude inventories fell 3.
7 million barrels from a week ago to 431.
7 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations of a 1.
1 million barrel
decline.