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Brent crude hit $ 50 a barrel Thursday morning for the first time since oil prices plummeted in early March as hopes for a faster-than-previously thought launch of vaccines fueled bullish expectations. to strengthen oil demand early next year.
At 10:35 a.m. ET, Brent crude was recovering 3.56 percent to $ 50.60. The price of Brent reached the threshold of $ 50 a barrel for the first time since the first days of March, when Saudi Arabia and Russia broke the previous OPEC + pact, contributing to massive falls in oil prices exacerbated by the fall of demand in spring closings. .
The price of WTI crude also reached its highest level since the price drop and was trading at $ 47.23, a 3.82 percent gain on the day.
Oil prices were driven by Canada in approving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, joining the UK. Canadian health authorities approved the vaccine on Wednesday and the first doses of the vaccine are expected later this year.
The UK has already started vaccinating vulnerable people and essential personnel, with the first person in the UK receiving the Pfizer vaccine on Tuesday.
Hopes for faster-than-expected vaccine launches sent oil market sentiment turning bullish on Thursday, even after the EIA on Wednesday reported a massive rise in crude oil inventories of 15.189 million barrels for the week through. on December 4. This increase in crude inventories approached the largest crude accumulation ever recorded, which was recorded earlier this year for the week ending April 10, when the EIA reported an inventory accumulation of 19.25 million barrels.
On Thursday, the market was already ignoring last week’s massive build-up, on vaccine hopes and signs that oil demand in Asia continues to rebound and is a bright spot in the market. Indian Oil Corp, the largest refinery in the world’s third-largest oil importer, said its refineries were operating at 100 percent capacity in November, for the first time since the pandemic began, to meet growing domestic demand for fuel.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oil.eu
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