AGL 40.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.16 (-0.4%)
AIRLINK 129.53 Decreased By ▼ -2.20 (-1.67%)
BOP 6.68 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.15%)
CNERGY 4.63 Increased By ▲ 0.16 (3.58%)
DCL 8.94 Increased By ▲ 0.12 (1.36%)
DFML 41.69 Increased By ▲ 1.08 (2.66%)
DGKC 83.77 Decreased By ▼ -0.31 (-0.37%)
FCCL 32.77 Increased By ▲ 0.43 (1.33%)
FFBL 75.47 Increased By ▲ 6.86 (10%)
FFL 11.47 Increased By ▲ 0.12 (1.06%)
HUBC 110.55 Decreased By ▼ -1.21 (-1.08%)
HUMNL 14.56 Increased By ▲ 0.25 (1.75%)
KEL 5.39 Increased By ▲ 0.17 (3.26%)
KOSM 8.40 Decreased By ▼ -0.58 (-6.46%)
MLCF 39.79 Increased By ▲ 0.36 (0.91%)
NBP 60.29 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
OGDC 199.66 Increased By ▲ 4.72 (2.42%)
PAEL 26.65 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.15%)
PIBTL 7.66 Increased By ▲ 0.18 (2.41%)
PPL 157.92 Increased By ▲ 2.15 (1.38%)
PRL 26.73 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (0.19%)
PTC 18.46 Increased By ▲ 0.16 (0.87%)
SEARL 82.44 Decreased By ▼ -0.58 (-0.7%)
TELE 8.31 Increased By ▲ 0.08 (0.97%)
TOMCL 34.51 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.12%)
TPLP 9.06 Increased By ▲ 0.25 (2.84%)
TREET 17.47 Increased By ▲ 0.77 (4.61%)
TRG 61.32 Decreased By ▼ -1.13 (-1.81%)
UNITY 27.43 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.04%)
WTL 1.38 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (7.81%)
BR100 10,407 Increased By 220 (2.16%)
BR30 31,713 Increased By 377.1 (1.2%)
KSE100 97,328 Increased By 1781.9 (1.86%)
KSE30 30,192 Increased By 614.4 (2.08%)

NEW YORK: Global oil benchmark Brent rose on Wednesday, briefly touching a more than two-month high above $45 a barrel, as hopes of an effective Covid-19 vaccine boosted demand expectations and an industry report showed US crude inventories fell more than expected.

Brent was trading 74 cents, or 1.7%, higher at $44.35 by 11:44 a.m. EST (1644 GMT), after hitting a session peak of $45.30 - the first time it has cleared the $45 threshold since early September.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude climbed 77 cents, or 1.8% to $42.13.

Both Brent and WTI prices are up about 14% this week after initial trial data showed the experimental Covid-19 vaccine being developed by Pfizer Inc and Germany’s BioNTech was 90% effective.

“The vaccine trade is feeding into the oil market,” said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital in New York.

The expectation that a vaccine could restore demand for transportation fuels is critical for oil, he said. “Transportation across the board has been so impacted by the pandemic that getting past it would revive demand for those fuels, which is what the petroleum complex needs.”

Renewed restrictions in Europe and the United States to combat the coronavirus have slowed the fuel demand recovery, offsetting a rebound in Asian economies where consumption has almost returned to pre-Covid levels.

US crude stockpiles last week fell 5.1 million barrels to about 482 million barrels, industry group data showed on Tuesday, compared with expectations for a reduction of 913,000 barrels in a Reuters poll of analysts.

Government data will be issued on Thursday, delayed a day due to the US Veteran’s day holiday on Wednesday.

Further price support came after Algeria’s energy minister said that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies could extend oil production cuts into 2021, or even deepen them. Saudi Arabia’s energy minister had said on Monday that supply pact could be “tweaked”.

Comments

Comments are closed.