Us crude oil futures rose more than 1 per cent above $47 in European trading on Friday, while Brent crude oil futures rose back above $50 amid expectations that the launch of novel coronavirus's vaccine would boost global fuel demand. the news of the oil tanker explosion in Saudi Arabia made the market nervous.
As of press time, the futures price of US crude oil was at 47.16 US dollars per barrel, up 1.27%, while the futures price of Brent crude oil was at 50.63 US dollars per barrel, up 1.32%. Meibu and Meibu have closed higher for the sixth consecutive week, the longest gain since June this year.
Oil prices have also increased against a backdrop of tight supply. According to separate reports from tanker companies Hafnia and United Kingdom Marine Trade Operations, at least one ship was hit by an explosion in the Saudi port of Jeddah.
The BW Rhine, an oil tanker carrying refined oil products, was hit by external forces while unloading at the port of Jeddah at around 12:40 local time on Monday, according to a notice on the website of Hafnia, a subsidiary of the shipowner BW Group. The announcement said that the ship flying the Singapore flag immediately stopped all unloading operations, the fire has been put out, no one was injured. UKMTO, who has ties to the British navy, said one ship had been hit, but did not mention the name of the ship. UKMTO advises ships in this area of the Red Sea to be "extra careful".
The US has launched a vaccination campaign against novel coronavirus, raising hopes that epidemic restrictions may soon end, boosting demand in the world's largest oil consumer. The director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement that it had signed the recommendation of the Advisory Committee on Policy Development and Immunization of the US Immunization Program to use Pfizer's novel coronavirus vaccine in people aged 16 and over.
The delivery of Pfizer novel coronavirus vaccine has been officially signed, allowing vaccination work to be carried out in the United States, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Redfield said in a statement on Sunday. Sources also revealed that starting from the 14th, vaccines will be provided to senior officials, including US President Donald Trump.
Financial markets were also boosted by the extension of Brexit talks between European powers on Monday. After a telephone meeting with European Commission President von der Lane, British Prime Minister Johnson jointly said that he would continue to push forward the UK-EU trade negotiations. Officials involved in the Brexit negotiations said an agreement could eventually be reached this week. Britain's proposal to the EU over the weekend to address the biggest differences could break the deadlock, according to three people familiar with the matter. The disagreement concerns how to create a level playing field for British and EU companies. If the plan works, Britain can get the EU to make concessions on fishing rights in British waters.
However, major European countries continue to blockade to curb the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic and reduce fuel demand. Germany, the world's fourth-largest economy, plans to impose stricter blockades from Wednesday to fight the epidemic.
Investors are looking forward to a meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting countries (OPEC) and its allies (OPEC+). OPEC, which monitors member countries' compliance with the agreement, and (JMMC), the joint ministerial oversight committee, will meet on December 16, while JMMC will meet on January 4. After the final decision to limit oil production to 500000 barrels a day from next year, the group will study the market.
Last week US energy companies added the largest number of oil and gas rigs since January as producers continued to return to the well site. Two fires broke out at Nigeria's Qua Iboe crude oil export terminal and an oil pipeline in Iran on Sunday, but most of these incidents have been brought under control.
