Oil Eases After Nine-Month High Rise – 17 December, 2020

Oil prices were just below the nine-month highs reached overnight, with rising covid cases stunting fuel demand and a U.S. stimulus package gets drawn out. Brent crude futures were 0.3% or 13 cents lower to $51.37 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were 0.1% or 7 cents lower to $48.29 per barrel. The Organization for the petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies (OPEC+) plans to reintroduce an additional 500,000 barrels per day of supply into the market at the start of the year in an effort to return 2 million barrels per day to the market. The hope is that as the COVID-19 vaccine becomes more widely available to the public, demand for oil will rise and potentially push prices into the $50-$60 range.