Oil prices soared on Tuesday as wells and refineries in Texas, of the world’s largest oil producer’s the largest crude oil-producing state in the United States, stopped due to cold weather.
Prices have also risen in an environment where the Iranian Houthi group in Yemen hit airports in Saudi Arabia with drones, supply concerns of the world’s largest oil exporter increased, COVID-19 vaccines accelerated, and optimism for the global economic recovery increased.
Brent crude was up 35 cents, or 0.6%, at $63.65 a barrel at 0434 GMT, after rising to its highest since January 2020 in the previous session.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 82 cents, or 1.4%, to $60.29 a barrel. WTI did not settle on Monday because of a U.S. federal holiday. Prices will settle at the close of trading on Tuesday.
Texas produces about 4.6 million barrels of oil a day and is home to 31 refineries, including some of the largest in the country, according to Energy Information Administration data.
The World Health Organization (WHO) expanded access to relatively inexpensive vaccines in the developing world by making AstraZeneca and Oxford University’s COVID-19 vaccine available for emergency use on Monday.
Norway’s oil industry employers prevented a strike at the Mongstad crude oil terminal and the closure of large offshore oil and gas fields.
