Vaccine Cushions Oil Price with Brent Futures Breaching $50

The oil price is boosted by renewed optimism in the post-pandemic environment. 

Traders are basing their bets on the abrupt pick-up of oil demand once economies start to operate at their maximum capacity.

Such an assumption is ignited by the successive approval by the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine. Furthermore, the fact that some of the world’s biggest economies had already given their go-signal, exacerbates the situation further.

The industries that were the biggest losers during the early onset of the lockdowns now quietly ascend back into power.

In the latest commodity charts, the two leading benchmarks managed to settle with gains. 

The Brent crude futures for February delivery added 67 cents and settled above the $50 per barrel threshold to $50.64.

Similarly, the West Texas Intermediate did not fail to follow the path of its counterpart after gaining 62 cents to $47.19 per barrel.

Also providing support is the oil tanker blast in Jeddah port after an impact from an external source.

The Kingdom did not immediately comment on the recent happening. However, sources familiar with the matter note that this could be in relation with its long-standing riffraff against Yemen.

With this, the market is adjusting their prospects based on the supply disruption that this might result in, above the update on Iran’s reappearance on the scene.

In a statement, the country said that it will start to boost daily production by more than 4 million barrels starting March next year.

This, in turn, could result in further build-up in crude inventory should the demand outlook fail to deliver to expectation.

For the record, both the US Energy Information Administration and the American Petroleum Institute reported inventory build-up last week. The latter reported a dismaying figure for the period ending December 5.

OPEC Member State Kuwait Welcomes New Oil Minister

Kuwait’s new emir appoints his first cabinet of ministers, one of which is in the oil sector.

The OPEC Member’s new oil minister is Mohammad Abdulatif Al-Fares which will also be in-charge of electricity and water.

The new head replaced the former holder of the position, Khaled Al-Fadhel. Al-Fadhel is a known supporter of the supply curbs the organization uses to stabilize crude prices.

The country’s oil policy may likely remain the status quo under the new government. This is according to sources familiar with the matter

The crude-reliant nation currently faces the worst recession it experienced in decades as the oil price remains volatile due to the sluggish global demand.