By Administrator _India
Oil was up on Wednesday morning in Asia, with gains of over 11% in the last two days. Prices have been buoyed by positive COVID-19 vaccine news and encouraging U.S. stockpile data.
Brent oil futures rose 0.92% to $44.01 by 11:45 PM ET (3:45 AM GMT) and WTI futures jumped 1.06% to $41.80.
Oil has continued its recent rapid rise, with Brent and WTI futures both above the $40 mark. The gains come on the back of positive news from Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine trials and a continued drop in U.S. petroleum product stockpiles.
Crude oil stock data from the American Petroleum Institute showed a draw of 5.147 million barrels as opposed to the 900,000-barrel draw forecast by Investing.com. API reported a draw of 8.010 million barrels for the previous week.
Monday’s vaccine news from Pfizer Inc is still boosting the market, with some investors seeing light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel. However, there is yet to be certainty in that area.
Encouraging forecasts for returns to pre-pandemic consumption levels in the mid-term are also helping push oil up. Tropical Storm Eta is also threatening to cut production from U.S. Gulf of Mexico rigs.
Asian demand is also helping to drive oil prices, with China stockpiles falling after months of growth, and independent refiners’ import quotas for next year having been raised against demand expectations. Japan’s demand has returned to close to pre-pandemic levels, also giving encouragement to the markets.
However, some analysts are wary of expecting much more in terms of gains.