Shafaq News / Brent crude prices hit their highest levels since March as news of a third promising COVID-19 vaccine candidate spurred hopes of a quicker recovery in oil demand, while U.S. President-elect Joe Biden received the go-ahead to begin his leadership transition, Reuters reported.

Brent crude futures rose 43 cents, or 0.9%, to $46.49 a barrel by 0522 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude added 45 cents, or 1.1%, to $43.51 a barrel.

Brent rose to a session high of $46.56 earlier on Tuesday, the highest level traded since early March before Saudi Arabia initiated a price war with Russia, which sent oil prices crashing. Both oil benchmarks settled up about 2% on Monday after gaining about 5% last week.

U.S. crude oil inventories likely edged lower last week, while distillate stockpiles were seen decreasing for a 10th straight week, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Monday, ahead of reports from the American Petroleum Institute and the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Traders also focused on a week of technical meetings by OPEC and its allies to prepare the ground for next week’s ministerial gathering, which is set to discuss extending oil output curbs into next year due to weak demand amid a second wave of COVID-19.