On Tuesday morning, global oil prices were steadily rising to settle firmly at March highs amid the news on successful COVID-19 vaccine trials.

Thus, Brent oil futures for February rose by 0.89% to $46.45 per barrel while January futures for Brent were up by 0.89% and settled at $46.47 per barrel. WTI crude oil for January gained 0.98% to trade at $43.48 per barrel.

Obviously, the coronavirus pandemic has had an adverse impact on the global economy and on fuel demand in particular. Against this backdrop, investors jump at any positive news from pharmaceutical companies about effective vaccine trials. This raises hopes that tight quarantine measures will be lifted soon and oil demand will increase. Any progress in the development of the vaccine brings the oil market closer to its normal life.

On Monday, the British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca announced that an interim analysis of its coronavirus vaccine, developed in collaboration with the University of Oxford, showed an average efficacy of 70% in two different dosing regimens. Earlier, Moderna reported on its successes in the development of the vaccine against COVID-19. Finally, last Friday, American corporation Pfizer Inc. and German company BioNTech have applied for emergency use authorization for their COVID-19 vaccine in the US.

The development of the AstraZeneca vaccine is an important step. This means that the majority of the population worldwide will have been vaccinated by spring or by mid-2021. US vaccine chief Moncef Slaoui says the vaccination program in the US could begin as soon as December 11-12.

Apparently, the positive vaccine news seems to offset the risks of the renewed lockdowns in Europe, as well as disturbing data on a rising number of coronavirus infections in the United States. So, in the US, the number of people infected with COVID-19 has already exceeded 12 million. By the way, the worsening epidemiological situation is likely to reduce the activity on Thanksgiving Day, November 26. This means that the market will not see a traditional increase in fuel demand during this holiday.

Meanwhile, market participants are encouraged by the reduced uncertainty that surrounded the presidential election in the United States. A few days earlier, the US government's General Services Administration officially recognized Joe Biden as the winner of the election and announced that he could begin formal procedures related to the transition of power.

Emily Murphy, the head of the GSA, said he is ready to provide Biden with access to basic resources so that he can prepare to take office on January 20, 2021. In addition, President-elect Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris will take part in national security briefings.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has officially confirmed the news that the Yemeni Houthis have attacked one of the Saudi Aramco's oil storage facilities. The Kingdom's Ministry of Energy reported that the attack set fire to a fuel tank at the Saudi Aramco distribution station.