Oil prices fell on Thursday as investors focused on Russia-Ukraine peace talks and eyed large surpluses in US gasoline and diesel inventories.

Brent crude futures settled at $61.28 a barrel , down 93 cents or 1.49%. US West Texas Intermediate crude finished at $57.60 a barrel, down 86 cents or 1.47%.

For most of the session, Brent and WTI were down more than $1 and nearly 2%, falling past lows last seen in October.

"The market has been weighed under by significant surpluses in gasoline and diesel inventories," said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates. "You're seeing that play out in poor refining margins."

The US Energy Information Administration reported on Wednesday that gasoline inventories rose by 2.5 million barrels in the previous week and distillate stockpiles grew

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