Oil Advances From 12-Week High on U.S. Vaccination Optimism

Oil pushed higher after closing at the strongest level since early September as signs that Covid-19 vaccinations in the U.S. could be underway within three weeks improved the demand outlook. Futures in New York rose past $43 a barrel after capping their third straight weekly gain. Vaccinations will “hopefully” start as soon as Dec. 11 or Dec. 12, Moncef Slaoui, head of the American government’s Operation Warp Speed vaccine acceleration program, said on CNN on Sunday.

Houthi rebels in Yemen, meanwhile, claimed in a statement to have struck a Saudi Aramco fuel distribution center in Jeddah on the kingdom’s west coast with a missile. Aramco didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Timespreads reflect glut concerns easing

Crude has jumped around 20% in November as pharmaceutical companies made rapid progress on readying anti-virus drugs. Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE requested emergency authorization for their vaccine on Friday and Moderna Inc. released positive interim results from a final-stage trial and said it’s close to seeking emergency authorization.

Optimism that relief from the pandemic is in sight has seen the market look past surging infections and more lockdown measures. The U.S. is now averaging almost 110,000 more daily cases than a month ago, while the opening of a Hong Kong-Singapore travel bubble has been delayed by two weeks due to an uptick in cases in the Chinese territory.

“We may see a continuing flurry of progress milestones on the vaccine front but it will be a tug of war with a likely worsening of the Covid situation in Europe and North America,” said Vandana Hari, founder of consultancy Vanda Insights in Singapore. The apparent attack on the Aramco facility isn’t likely to have a long-lasting impact on prices, she said.

PRICES
West Texas Intermediate for January delivery rose 1.4% to $43.03 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 7:45 a.m. in London after climbing 1.2% on Friday Brent for January settlement added 1.7% to $45.72 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange after closing up 1.7% on Friday Crude futures on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange rose 2.8% to 267.9 yuan a barrel after climbing 1.3% last week

PRICES

West Texas Intermediate for January delivery rose 1.4% to $43.03 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 7:45 a.m. in London after climbing 1.2% on Friday
Brent for January settlement added 1.7% to $45.72 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange after closing up 1.7% on Friday
Crude futures on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange rose 2.8% to 267.9 yuan a barrel after climbing 1.3% last week

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