2021.02.0109:14:00UTC+00Oil Prices Rise On Recovery Hopes

Oil prices rose on Monday, with sentiment boosted by vaccination programs getting underway in hard-hit countries and output cuts by major producers like Saudi Arabia.

Brent crude for April settlement futures rose 0.8 percent to $55.48 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up half a percent at $52.47. Both benchmarks jumped almost 8 percent in January.

AstraZeneca said it would increase its coronavirus vaccine deliveries to the EU by 30 percent, helping ease worries about a slow recovery caused by unexpected issues with the vaccine rollouts.

Bayer AG has agreed to produce biotech firm CureVac NV's experimental coronavirus vaccine to help speed up the roll out of a promising shot that's in advanced clinical tests.

The U.K. government has signed a deal for a further 40 million doses of experimental coronavirus shot from Valneva SE, a French vaccine developer.

As coronavirus infections continue to slow across many regions of the globe, Italy has eased restrictions for most of the country starting today.

On the supply side, OPEC and its partners expect that the agreed oil-supply curbs will reach 99 percent in January, the Bloomberg reported, citing an unnamed delegate.