After a decline in U.S. crude oil inventories and the UK’s approved a second coronavirus vaccine, Oil prices soared on Wednesday.
Brent crude futures settled up 25 cents to $51.34 a barrel, off the session high of $51.56 and well lower than the $66 price that started the year.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude settled up 40 cents to trade at $48.40, substantially down from about $62 at the start of 2020.
Both contracts fell at the beginning of the session as a larger financial aid package in the United States seemed less likely and hopes for faster recovery in oil demand dropped by the COVID-19 epidemic diminished.
Prices soared after the Energy Information Administration report showed that crude oil stocks fell 6.1 million barrels last week to 493.5 million barrels. However, investors stated that US crude oil stocks closed the year more than 10% higher than the last week of 2019.
On the supply front, U.S. energy firms this week added 3 oil and natural gas rigs to the best quarter for boosting the rig count since the second quarter of 2017.
Oil prices found support on Wednesday as the US dollar hit its lowest since 2018, making oil cheaper for other currencies.
The UK approved a coronavirus vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, raising hopes of returning to traveling and work, normalization.
In the US, vaccination is said to be slower than expected, with about 2 million vaccinations of application, well below the promised 20 million for the end of the year.
