Friday, December 11th, 2020
Brent hit $50 per barrel on Thursday for the first time since March, edging higher on optimism surrounding vaccinations, the OPEC+ deal, plus strong demand in Asia. However, prices eased a bit on Friday as demand in Europe and the U.S. remains subdued and Covid-19 cases continue to spread. The EIA also reported a surge in crude inventories for last week, up 15.2 million barrels.
Signs of demand rebound in Europe. Many European countries went back into lockdown in November, but are loosening restrictions again. Bloomberg says that road usage is on the rise, hitting a two-month high.
Pemex suspends work with Vitol. Pemex suspended business with Vitol after the oil trader paid $160 million to settle bribery charges. Vitol settled charges for paying bribes in Brazil, Mexico and Ecuador.
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