OIL HITS HIGHEST PRICE SINCE MARCH ON COVID NEWS, BIDEN TRANSITION

Oil rose more than $1 a barrel to its highest levels since March as a third promising coronavirus vaccine raised hope for fuel demand recovery and US President-elect Joe Biden began his transition to the White House, Laila Kearney reported for Reuters.

Brent crude rose $1.65, or 3.6%, to $47.22 a barrel by 11:34 a.m. EST (1634 GMT), to $47.71 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude gained $1.89, or 4.4%, to $44.95 a barrel. Both benchmarks reached their highest since March 6.

After the collapse of that output pact led to a brief Saudi Arabia-Russia price war, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies agreed a new deal on record production cuts to support prices. The group known as OPEC+ is expected to roll over those cuts into 2021 after a meeting over Nov. 30 to Dec. 1 following technical talks this week.

The first of this week’s US supply reports is due at 4:30 p.m. EST (2130 GMT) from the American Petroleum Institute. US crude oil inventories are seen rising slightly last week, while distillate stockpiles likely declined for the 10th straight week, an extended Reuters poll showed.