Oil prices soared on Monday and Brent rose above $ 50 a barrel. The spread of coronavirus vaccines has supported prices in the hope that it will increase global fuel demand.
Brent crude futures for February rose 38 cents, or 0.8%, to $50.35 a barrel by 0454 GMT, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures for January were up 32 cents, or 0.7%, at $46.89 a barrel.
In the midst of fluctuations in supply, the news that an oil tanker discharged in Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah port was hit by an external source and exploded, contributed to the increase in oil prices.
Brent and WTI have both surged for six consecutive weeks, their longest-running gains since June.
The United States has launched its vaccination campaign against COVID-19. Major European countries continue the lockdowns to prevent the spread of COVID-19, which reduces fuel demand.
Investors are focussed two meetings between the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, including Russia, known as OPEC +.
While the OPEC + joint ministry monitoring committee (JMMC), which monitors the harmony between the members, will meet on 16 December, OPEC + will meet on January 4 to examine the market after its final decision to increase the production in January as 500,000 barrels per day.
In the United States, power firms increased the number of oil and gas rigs the most since January last week, and producers continued being back to wells.
Two separate fires occurred on Sunday at Nigeria’s Qua Iboe crude oil export terminal and an oil pipeline in Iran, but the events were contained.
