Oil rises 1% on stalled Russia-Ukraine peace talks, strong US demand

 Oil prices rose by nearly a dollar a barrel on Thursday as Russia and Ukraine blamed each other for a stalled peace process, and as earlier U.S. data showed signs of strong demand in the top oil consuming nation.

Brent crude futures were up 85 cents, or about 1.3%, at $67.69 a barrel at 1:42 p.m. EDT (1742 GMT), having hit a two-week high earlier in the session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 86 cents, or 1.4%, at $63.57 a barrel.

Both contracts climbed more than 1% in the prior session.

The path to peace in Ukraine remained uncertain, turning oil traders cautious after a selloff over the past two weeks on hopes that U.S. President Donald Trump would soon negotiate a diplomatic end to Russia's war with its neighbor.

Both Moscow and Kyiv have since blamed each other for stalling the peace process. Russia on Thursday launched a major air attack near Ukraine's border with the European Union, while Ukraine claimed to have hit a Russian oil refinery.

"Some geopolitical risk premium is slowly being pumped back into the market," oil trading advisory firm Ritterbusch and Associates told clients on Thursday.