HOUSTON: Oil prices fell more than 2 per cent on Wednesday after US President Donald Trump took the first big step toward diplomacy over the war in Ukraine he has promised to end, a war that has supported oil prices on concerns about global supplies.

Brent futures were down $1.71, or 2.22pc, at $75.29 a barrel by 1:38 p.m. EST. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped $1.78, or 2.43pc, to $71.54.

At their session lows, both benchmarks were down by more than $1 a barrel. The declines follow three days of gains, during which Brent climbed 3.6pc and WTI rose 3.7pc.-Reuters