Oil Rises as Demand Hopes Grow After Full US Approval For a Covid-19 Vaccine

Oil prices rose on Tuesday, August 24 after the US Food and Drug Administration granted full approval for the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against Covid-19, raising investors’ hopes of higher fuel demand due to a possible increase in US vaccination rates.

Brent crude futures rose 46 cents, or 0.7%, to $69.21 a barrel and US Texas crude gained 34 cents, or 0.5%, to $65.98.

The two benchmarks jumped more than 5% yesterday, supported by the dollar’s decline after it suffered its largest weekly loss in more than nine months last week.

The US Food and Drug Administration, which granted the vaccine emergency use approval in December, gave its full approval to vaccinate those 16 years of age or older with the two-dose vaccine.

Also boosting prices, the likelihood of a preliminary poll by Reuters before the release of data on the sector, the decline in stocks of crude and gasoline in the United States last week, while it is expected that stocks of distillates have risen.

Indian refiners’ crude consumption rebounded in July to a three-month high as demand for fuel recovered, supporting prices.