Crude oil futures ended higher on Monday as rising optimism about potential Covid-19 vaccine raised hopes that energy demand will pick up soon. After recent encouraging updates on the vaccine front, the Oxford University and British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca announced that their vaccine for the novel coronavirus could be around 90% effective under one dosing regimen. Meanwhile, traders also bet on hopes that OPEC and other major oil producers will consider extending the curb on crude production by another few months. OPEC meets on November 30 and December 1 and it appears traders have already factored in a three-month delay of production increases.
Crude oil futures for January rose $0.64 or about 1.5 percent to settle at $43.06 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. January Brent crude gained $0.90 or 2 percent to settle at $45.87 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.