Oil rises, as investors focus on vaccine rollout, brush off recovery concerns | Reuters

Oil rises, as investors focus on vaccine rollout, brush off recovery concerns | Reuters

Oil prices rose on Tuesday as investors focused on the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, looking past tightening lockdowns in Europe and forecasts for a slower-than-expected recovery in fuel demand.

Brent crude settled at $50.76 a barrel, rising 47 cents, or 0.9%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude settled at $47.62 a barrel, gaining 1.3%, or 63 cents.

The United States began vaccinating people on Monday as the country’s COVID-19 death toll crossed the 300,000 mark. Britain and Canada have also begun to administer shots.

“The crude market continues to seize upon the future outlook of the post-pandemic period, which could be as soon as next summer,” said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital in New York.