Oil rises as full U.S. clearance for COVID-19 vaccine stokes fuel demand hopes (updated)
24/08/2021 06:12
* Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine gains full U.S. regulatory
approval
* U.S. to sell up to 20 mln barrels of SPR oil
* U.S. crude inventories expected to drop for 3rd week -
poll
* Coming up: API oil inventory data at 2030 GMT
(Adds details, updates prices)
By Jessica Jaganathan
SINGAPORE, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Tuesday
after the U.S. drug regulator granted full approval to the
Pfizer Inc/BioNTech SE COVID-19 vaccine, stoking investor hopes
that higher fuel demand would follow a potential step up in U.S.
coronavirus vaccination rates.
Brent crude oil LCOc1 futures gained 21 cents, or 0.3%, to
$68.96 a barrel by 0454 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate
(WTI) crude CLc1 futures increased by 14 cents, or 0.2%, to
$65.78 a barrel.
Both benchmarks jumped more than 5% on Monday, helped by a
weaker U.S. dollar, after marking their biggest week of losses
in more than nine months last week.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which last
December authorised the Pfizer/BioNtech two-dose vaccine for
emergency use, has now issued full approval for use in people
age 16 and older. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2PU36O
Health officials hope the action will convince unvaccinated
Americans that the shot is safe and effective, and expect it
could also prompt more state and local governments, as well as
private employers, to impose vaccine mandates.
"Vaccine hesitancy across some minorities might end now that
the FDA has given the all-clear signal," said Edward Moya,
senior analyst at OANDA.
"With many corporations and government agencies likely to
enforce vaccine mandates, return to office travel should
dramatically pick up in the fall."
Also boosting prices, U.S. crude and gasoline inventories
likely declined last week, while distillate stockpiles are
expected to have increased, a preliminary Reuters poll ahead of
industry data showed on Monday. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2PU36G
Indian refiners' crude throughput in July bounced to its
highest in three months as fuel demand rebounded, which
supported prices. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2PU3TI
The rapid spread of the highly infectious Delta variant of
the novel coronavirus and low vaccination rates in Asia,
overall, however, capped price gains as fuel demand is
suppressed. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2PQ11F
The U.S. Department of Energy said Monday it would sell up
to 20 million barrels of crude from the emergency oil reserve to
comply with legislation passed in recent years, with deliveries
of the oil to take place between Oct. 1 and Dec. 15. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2PU1CV
(Reporting by Jessica Jaganathan; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell
and Sam Holmes)
((Jessica.Jaganathan@thomsonreuters.com; +65 6870 3822; Reuters
Messaging: jessica.jaganathan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net;
Twitter: https://twitter.com/j3ssi3))