Crude oil prices rose on Wednesday over a large draw in US crude oil inventories and positive developments on the COVID-19 vaccine by Pfizer and BioNTech.
International benchmark Brent crude was trading at $44.15 per barrel at 0635 GMT on Wednesday with a 1.24% increase after closing Tuesday at $43.61 a barrel.
American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was at $41.88 per barrel at the same time for a 1.26% increase after ending the previous session at $41.36 a barrel.
Oil prices on Tuesday are on an upward trajectory following crude oil stock data from the American Petroleum Institute (API), which showed a draw of 5.147 million barrels for the week ending Nov. 6. The market expectation was a 900,000-barrel draw, while API reported a draw of 8.010 million barrels during the previous week.
US drugmaker Pfizer and German biotech firm BioNTech's announcement Monday that their COVID-19 vaccine candidate is more than 90% effective along with the results of the US presidential election also continue to inject positivity in the markets.
'Amid the ongoing standoff over electoral results in the US as incumbent president Donald Trump filed lawsuits for a recount of votes over fraud claims and Biden has already declared himself as winner, oil started the week with price jumps with more than 10% despite the weak outlook for demand over positive news on the full effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccine of COVID-19,' Political risk and oil analyst Jose Chalhoub told Anadolu Agency.
However, he stressed that Libya’s increasing output, which is now close to 1 million barrels of oil per day, is continuing to put pressure on prices.
The reopening of oil fields and ports since Sept.18, after an eight-month hiatus, prompted a resurgence in Libya's oil industry to the extent that daily crude oil production in the country surpassed 500,000 barrels at the beginning of this month from previous levels of as low as 100,000 barrels.
The country aims to return to 2011 levels of 1.6 million barrels per day in the longer term.
By Ebru Sengul Cevrioglu
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr