Oil prices extend gains on COVID vaccine hopes

Shafaq News/ Oil prices extended gains on Monday as traders eyed a recovery in crude demand thanks to successful coronavirus vaccine trials, although prices were contained by renewed lockdowns in several countries.

Sentiment was also bolstered by hopes that OPEC+ will keep crude output in check.

Brent crude futures rose 25 cents, or 0.55%, to $45.32 a barrel by 0540 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained 17 cents, or 0.4%, to $42.59 a barrel. Both benchmarks jumped 5% last week.

"Positive sentiment continues to be driven by the recent good news about the efficacy of coronavirus vaccines in development and the expectation that the OPEC+ meeting at the end of this month could see the group extend current cuts by 3-6 months," said Stephen Innes, Chief Global Markets Strategist at axi.

OPEC+, which meets on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, is looking at options to delay by at least three months from January the tapering of their 7.7 million barrel per day (bpd) cuts by around 2 million bpd.