SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Oil prices rose on Monday as traders were optimistic about a recovery in crude demand after the announcement of successful coronavirus vaccine trials.
Brent crude futures rose 51 cents, or 1.13%, to $45.47 a barrel by 0617 GMT, while U.S. West Texas intermediate crude gained 38 cents, or 0.9%, to $42.80 a barrel.
Both benchmarks had increased by 5% last week.
“Positive sentiment continues to be driven by the recent good news about the efficacy of coronavirus vaccines in development and the expectation that the OPEC+ meeting at the end of this month could see the group extend current cuts by 3-6 months,” Reuters cited Stephen Innes, Chief Global Markets Strategist at axi, as saying.
U.S. healthcare workers and others recommended that the nation’s first COVID-19 inoculations could start getting shots within a day or two of regulatory consent next month, a top official of the government’s vaccine development effort said on Sunday.
Elsewhere, OPEC+, which meets on November 30 and December 1, is looking at options to delay by at least three months from January the tapering of their 7.7 million barrel per day (bpd) cuts by around 2 million bpd.
