Oil Prices Hit 8-month Peak Amid Vaccine Hopes

Obiajulu Joel Nwolu

Global oil prices on Tuesday rose to the highest level since March, spiking above $47 per barrel (pb) amid hopes for a COVID-19 vaccine dispatch within weeks revived hopes for more fuel consumption.

The international oil benchmark, Brent crude, gained more than 3 percent to climb to $47.82 pb, The Cable reports.

WTI Crude last traded at $45 per barrel eight months ago, just before Saudi Arabia and Russia failed to reach an agreement on oil supply in the pandemic which led to an oil price war that resulted in price collapse along with low demand.

The spike in oil prices has accompanied a slew of positive updates from pharmaceutical companies on their progress towards developing a COVID-19 vaccine.

The University of Exford and AstraZeneca on Monday said that provisional trial data from their Phase III trials suggest their candidate vaccine is effective at preventing COVID-19 and offers a high level of protection.

The energy sector has been one of the biggest winners on the market, since the announcement from Pfizer, having been the worst hit when demand initially crashed in the pandemic.

This post was written by Obiajulu Joel Nwolu.

The views expressed here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect our views and opinions.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *