Oil prices increased on Thursday, with WTI rising by 0.5% to $45.73 a barrel at around 06:30 AM GMT while Brent crude gaining 0.3% to $49.02 a barrel, as traders were upbeat that a COVID-19 vaccine rollout in Britain and the imminent approval of a vaccine in the US could ignite a rebound in fuel demand.
Vaccinations might start as soon as this weekend in the US, with a panel of advisers to meet on Thursday to discuss whether to recommend to the FDA an emergency use authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Market overlooked bearish data from the EIA showing a 15.19 million-barrel build in crude inventories in the week ended December, 4th, the largest weekly build since the week ended April 10, pushing inventories to almost 11% above the five-year average.
Meanwhile, reports surfaced about an explosion at two oil wells in northern Iraq, with the government calling it a terrorist attack.
