Oil prices rose on Monday as traders were confident that the proposed US large stimulus package from president-elect Joe Biden would boost fuel demand. At around 06:30 AM, WTI crude gained 0.5% to $52.51 a barrel, while Brent crude added 0.4% to $55.65 a barrel. Top aides to President Joe Biden have begun talks with a group of moderate Senate Republicans and Democrats, Associated Press reported. In recent time, some support for oil prices have come from additional production cuts from Saudi Arabia and from reports that the WHO plans to approve several virus vaccines in the coming weeks. Limiting the rise, China reported new virus cases in the mainland rose to 124 on Monday from 80 a day earlier, amid the worst wave of new infections China has seen since March 2020. Meantime, data from the US EIA last Friday showed US crude inventories in the country unexpectedly rose by 4.4 million barrels in the week to January 15th.
