On Monday, oil prices continue to gain as traders start to get optimistic about demand due to the successful trials of the coronavirus vaccine, the hopes on OPEC+ output cuts, and the geopolitical tensions in the Middle East which caused concerns on supply.
By 07.33 GMT, Brent crude oil futures rose by 1.4% or 63 cents to USD45.59/barrel while the US WTI climbed by 1.2% or 49 cents to USD42.91/barrel. The reading continues last weeks’ 5% jump.
On the same day, British drugmaker AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine is reported to be around 90% effective under one dosing regimen. The US is said to start its first coronavirus inoculation shots within a day or two of regulatory consent in November.
Hopes on the persisting oil output cut from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its non-member oil producer allies (OPEC+) also buoyed prices. During its meeting on November 30 and December 1, the group is said to be looking at options to suspend by at least three months from January the tapering of their 7.7 million bpd cuts by around 2 million bpd.
On the other hand, on Monday, a militant group said that it fired a missile that struck a distribution station operated by the Saudi Aramco oil company in Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah. Saudi has not commented on the claim, but most of Aramco’s production and export facilities are mostly in the easter province, far away from Jeddah.
