By Ahmad Ghaddar and Shariq Khan LONDON (Reuters) -Oil prices rose on Thursday as market participants weighed the likelihood that talks to end the war in Ukraine will yield an agreement, with trading volume thin due to the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States. Brent crude futures rose 21 cents, or 0.3%, to $63.34 a barrel by 11:35 a.m. ET (1635 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 29 cents, or 0.5%, to $58.94 a barrel. The market is swinging between hope and skepticism over renewed peace efforts in Ukraine, SEB commodities analyst Ole Hvalbye said. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the outlines of a draft peace plan discussed by the United States and Ukraine could become the basis of future agreements to end the war in Ukraine. Putin also said that once Ukrainian troops withdraw from positions they hold in key areas, the fighting will stop, but Russia will achieve its objectives by force if that does not happen. U.S. and Ukrainian officials have been trying to narrow their gaps over President Donald Trump's plan to end Europe's deadliest conflict since World War Two, with Kyiv wary of being strong-armed into accepting a deal largely on Russian terms, including territorial concessions. "Geopolitical volatility continues and hopes of a potential ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine have neutralized the supply concerns arising from new U.S. sanctions on key Russian producers," Barclays said in a note. Meanwhile, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies are likely to leave oil output levels unchanged at their meetings on Sunday and to agree on a mechanism to assess members' maximum output capacity, two delegates from the group and a source familiar with OPEC+ talks told Reuters. Eight OPEC+ countries, which have been gradually raising production in 2025, are expected to keep their policy to pause hikes in the first quarter of 2026 unchanged, the two delegates said. Crude prices were also supported by rising expectations for a U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate cut in December. A lower rate typically stimulates economic growth and bolsters demand for oil. "We are now approaching the year-end with thinner liquidity without any new drivers unless the Fed surprises the markets with a hawkish guidance on the 10 December FOMC meeting," said OANDA senior market analyst Kelvin Wong. "WTI crude is likely to be range-bound between US$56.80 and US$60.40 till year-end," he said. (Additinoal reporting by Enes Tunagur, Yuka Obayashi and Trixie Yap; Editing by Louise Heavens, Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Leslie Adler) (The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)
