Crude oil futures ended sharply higher on Monday as optimism surrounding President Donald Trump’s COVID-19 treatments fueled risk-on sentiment. Traders also weighed prospects for another round of stimulus in the US and monitored a strike that is curtailing crude output in Norway. An escalation in strike among offshore workers in Norway that resulted in the shutting down of six Norwegian offshore oil and gas fields pushed up oil prices. According to the Norwegian Oil and Gas Association (NOG), the strike will likely cut Norway's total output capacity by over 330,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, or about 8% of total production.
Crude oil futures for November rose $2.17 or 5.9 percent to settle at $39.22 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. December Brent crude surged $2.02 or 5.1 percent to settle at $41.29 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.