By Oil rose for the fourth straight session on Wednesday as the market shrugged off an industry report showing U.S. crude stockpiles rose more than expected, extending a rally driven by hopes that a COVID19 vaccine will boost fuel demand.
Brent crude was up 44 cents, or 0.9, at 48.30 a barrel by 0743 GMT, having risen almost 4 in the previous session. West Texas Intermediate crude gained 33 cents, or 0.7, to 45.24, after rising more than 4 on Tuesday.
Both contracts are at their highest since early March and have rallied around 9 in the last four days.
With an orderly Presidential transition in sight, vaccine boosters and expectations that OPEC will extend production cuts next week, oil markets completely ignored the unexpected 3.8 millionbarrel climb in API U.S. crude inventories, said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at OANDA.
AstraZeneca said on Monday its COVID19 vaccine was 70 effective in trials and could be up to 90 effective, providing another weapon in the fight to control the pandemic after positive results from other major pharmaceutical developers.
However, any viable vaccine is not likely to be ready for mass use in the next few months, meaning lockdowns and travel restrictions will be in place into next year.
That makes it likely that OPEC, which groups the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries OPEC and allies including Russia, will continue production cuts into 2021 after a meeting set to start on Nov. 30 following technical talks this…
