Oil prices moved sharply on Tuesday to finish in a dispersed order, with investors remaining alert to the spread of Covid-19 and the restrictions put in place worldwide, waiting for a recovery in demand with the arrival of vaccines.

North Sea Brent crude oil for February delivery rose 0.10 percent or 5 cents from Monday's close to 48.84 dollars.

In New York, the American barrel of WTI for the month of January fell 0.3% or 16 cents to 45.60 dollars.

However, these price levels are quite high for 2020, with Brent not staying that far from the symbolic threshold of 50 dollars per barrel that it came close to 49.92 dollars on Friday, the first since March 6.

“Oil is technically still in an upward trend and to reach the next level, it will need help from American refiners,” whose pace is expected to accelerate, said Phil Flynn, of Price Futures Group, on the eve of the weekly release of American crude stocks on Wednesday.

According to average analysts' estimates, American black gold stocks are expected to drop by 1.2 million barrels and refinery utilization capacity to increase by 0.6% to 78.8%.

Crude oil prices remained torn “between immediate gloom and the perception of a better future”, said Tamas Varga, an analyst at PVM, stressing that Covid-19 “continues to spread”, a serious threat to demand and storage capacities in the very short term.

Despite the prospects suggested by the massive vaccination campaigns against Covid-19, the current situation remains worrying, especially in the United States.

For example, more than 20 million people living in Southern California have again been subject to lockdown since Monday to ease the pressure on hospitals.

Avtar Sandu, from Phillip Futures, also points to “intensifying tensions between the United States and China” as a factor in the fall in crude prices, as the United States announced new sanctions against Beijing on Monday.