WTI collects a bid on demand prospects taking on the $48 area

WTI is trading at $48.10 and higher 2.86% in today's range of between $46.18 and $48.48. 

Oil prices have climbed on Wednesday, boosted by draws in US inventories of crude, gasoline and distillates that lifted investors' hopes for some return in fuel demand.

Investors have ducked a threat by US President Donald Trump not to sign a pandemic relief bill, while investors sentiment also soared on rising expectations of a Brexit trade deal.

There was a wobble in sentiment overnight when a video posted on Twitter by US President Donald Trump said a stimulus bill, agreed upon after months of wrangling in Congress, was "a disgrace" and that he wanted to increase "ridiculously low" $600 payments for individuals to $2,000.

However, the markets still believed a fiscal package would come soon, whether under Trump or President-elect Joe Biden. At the same time, pharmaceutical companies have said that their vaccines would likely be effective against the new highly contagious COVID-19 variant.

"AZD1222 (AstraZeneca's vaccine candidate) contains the genetic material of the SARS-CoV-2 virus spike protein, and the changes to the genetic code seen in this new viral strain do not appear to change the structure of the spike protein," said an AstraZeneca representative in an email to Reuters.

Meanwhile, BioNTech-Pfizer has begun shipping its vaccine across Europe. DW has the latest. 

Yesterday, the New York Times reported Tuesday that Pfizer was nearing a new deal with the US to provide more vaccine doses. A deal could come as soon as Wednesday.

The government is asking for 100 million additional doses from April to June. The company has already signed a contract to deliver 100 million doses by the end of March. That deal was signed at the end of July 2020.

Meanwhile, US crude inventories fell by 562,000 barrels in the week to Dec. 18 to 499.5 million barrels, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.

Gasoline stocks fell by a surprise 1.1 million barrels in the week to 237.8 million barrels, the EIA said, while distillate stockpiles fell by 2.3 million barrels in the week to 148.9 million barrels, more than expected.

''The oil glut should be cleared by the end of 2021, fueled by normalizing demand for products and by OPEC+ supply management. In particular, we expect under-producing refiners and recovering demand to tighten product inventories and support crack spreads,'' analysts at TD Securities explained.

''The "Great Rebalancing" is underway, yet some concerns still remain, particularly as Iran is planning to grow its oil production in the next year, suggesting the nation is readying for a potential return to the negotiating table with the President-Elect. Yet, we argue that this will not likely be a priority for the new Administration, suggesting a continued rebalancing in energy markets.''

''Notwithstanding, a significant amount of OPEC spare capacity will provide an offset to the demand growth, which should keep the rally in energy markets from breaking away.''