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West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 23 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $ 45.75 a barrel, while Brent crude futures were up 21 cents, or 0.4 percent, to 49.07. dollars a barrel.
Oil prices also received support, similar to some tension, after two wells caught fire in a small oil field in northern Iraq, in what Baghdad described as a “terrorist attack”, although production was not affected. .
“While the wells were small, they raised fears of further unrest,” the ANZ Research Center, which specializes in oil markets, said in a note.
Analysts attributed the high prices to the start of vaccination campaigns with the Corona vaccine in some countries, as Stephen Innes, chief oil market analyst, said that “optimism about the vaccine prevails and continues to limit any serious negative action.”
The arrival of vaccines could stimulate a recovery in fuel demand, despite the announcement of a large increase in US crude stocks.
Analysts were surprised that the market ignored the unexpectedly large rise in US crude stocks in government data released on Wednesday, largely due to falling US crude exports to their markets. lowest levels since 2018.
The Energy Information Administration said crude inventories rose by 15.2 million barrels, in the week ending December 4, compared to analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll, a decrease of 1, 4 million barrels.
