Brent closed up 2.40% at more than 46 dollars and WTI rose again to 43 dollars thanks to an increase of 1.50%.

Oil prices rose to a three-month high on Monday, encouraged by advances in vaccines against COVID-19 and a possible move by Opep+ to limit the supply of black gold.

The contract for North Sea Brent oil for delivery in January gained 2.40% or 1.1 dollars to 46.06 dollars.

In New York, the American barrel of WTI for December ended up 1.50% or 64 cents, at 43.06 dollars.

The two benchmark prices have reached highs since the end of August and have increased by almost 30% since the last lows in early November.

“Oil prices started the week on a positive note, capitalizing on news around the Covid-19 vaccine, with estimates of the availability of these vaccines taking the place of concerns about short-term oil demand,” said Bjornar Tonhaugen, from Rystad Energy.

“Investors are betting on the effectiveness of the vaccine and, with it, on a slowdown in the number of coronavirus cases in a few months,” said Carlo Alberto De Casa, an analyst at Activtrades.

Hopes for massive vaccination campaigns against COVID-19, which should begin before the end of the year, were bolstered on Monday morning by the announcement of the British laboratory AstraZeneca.

The firm, associated with the University of Oxford, has developed a vaccine that is 70% effective on average, and even 90% in some cases, according to the interim results of large-scale clinical trials carried out in the United Kingdom and Brazil.

These results currently seem less convincing than those of its competitors Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna, whose effectiveness exceeds 90%, but the British formula has the advantage of using more traditional technology, making its future vaccine cheaper and easier to store since it does not need to be stored at very low temperature.

In addition, investors are hopeful that “Opp+ will extend its current (production) cuts,” Mr. Alberto De Casa continued.

According to the current agreement of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and their allies, the current market withdrawal of 7.7 million barrels per day should be reduced to 5.8 million as of January 2021.

But many market observers are now counting on a delay of three to six months, which will probably be taken at the next summit of the cartel and its partners on 30 November and 1 December.