Ice Brent rises on more vaccine progress

Market: Crude oil
16/11/20

Brent crude futures prices rose this morning after another positive indication about the potential for a Covid-19 vaccine.

US biotech firm Moderna said its contribution to the race towards immunisation has been found 94.5pc effective in phase-3 clinical trials, "the first clinical validation that our vaccine can prevent Covid-19".

Last week front-month Brent and WTI futures contracts pushed sharply higher, after US pharmaceutical firm Pfizer and its German partner Biontech said that their vaccine candidate was more than 90pc effective. Today's upwards crude price moves are more modest, with a near-4pc rise in the January Brent contract to $44.37/bl.

The more tempered price reaction may reflect an understanding that any successful vaccine is unlikely to lift oil demand from the pandemic-related doldrums in any short order. The IEA said last week that any boost to demand arising from a vaccine was unlikely to manifest itself until well into next year.

By Ben Winkley

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01/05/25

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