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© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Crude oil storage tanks are seen in an aerial photograph at the Cushing Oil Center
By Sonali Paul and Florence Tan
MELBOURNE / SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil prices rose on Thursday, driven by the launch of the COVID-19 vaccine in Britain and the imminent approval of a vaccine in the United States that could stimulate a rebound in fuel demand. , despite the large accumulation of stocks in the past. week.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 25 cents, or 0.6%, to $ 45.77 a barrel at 0500 GMT, while futures were up 22 cents, or 0.5%, to 49 , 08 dollars a barrel. Prices changed little overnight.
“The market is looking beyond what seems like a difficult winter and looking into the optimistic lens of 2021,” said Howie Lee, an economist at OCBC Bank of Singapore.
Vaccines could begin as early as this weekend in the United States, with an advisory panel meeting Thursday to discuss whether to recommend to the Food and Drug Administration authorization of emergency use of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine.
“A COVID-19 vaccine is an important turning point. Among its many benefits, it will be that it could draw a line below the drop in demand from the oil market, which has suffered from movement restrictions imposed by the government,” said ANZ analysts. in a note. .
“However, there are some hurdles before the oil market can assume the worst is over … many governments are currently tightening restrictions to stem a resurgent spread while the mass production and distribution of vaccines is resolved.”
Canada approved its first COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday and said inoculations would begin next week.
Oil prices were also supported by some nervousness after two wells in a small oil field in northern Iraq caught fire in what the government called a “terrorist attack”, although production was not affected.
“Although the wells were small, it has raised concerns about further disruptions,” ANZ analysts said.
Analysts were shocked that the market had ignored an unexpectedly large build-up in US crude stocks in government data released Wednesday, largely due to a drop in US crude exports. At its lowest level since 2018.
Crude inventories rose by 15.2 million barrels in the week to Dec. 4, the Energy Information Administration said, compared to analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll of a 1.4 million drop. barrels.
The EIA on Tuesday cut its forecast for global oil demand growth for 2021 by 110,000 barrels a day to 5.78 million bpd.
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