Shafaq News / Oil gained more ground on Wednesday as a U.S. COVID-19 fiscal aid package and a decline in crude oil inventories lifted prices, Reuters reported.

Brent crude futures rose 19 cents, or 0.4%, to $51.28 a barrel, by 0255 GMT and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 29 cents, or 0.6%, to $48.29.

 “Oil prices have remained supported by a weaker U.S. dollar overnight and have finally found a friend in the API inventory report,” said Stephen Innes, chief global market strategist at Axi, a broker.

The dollar fell to its lowest in more than two years against the euro as currency traders looked past a new delay in U.S. stimulus cheques and maintained bets that additional financial aid was still likely. [USD/]

The Democrat-led U.S. House of Representatives voted to meet President Donald Trump’s demand to increase direct COVID-19 aid payments to Americans hurting from the pandemic to $2,000.

A new variant of the virus in the United Kingdom has led to the reimposition of movement restrictions, hitting near-term demand and weighing on prices, while hospitalizations and infections have surged in parts of Europe and Africa.

Fossil-fuel demand in coming years could remain softer even after the pandemic as countries seek to limit emissions to slow climate change. Major oil companies, such as BP Plc and Total SE, published forecasts that include scenarios where global oil demand may have peaked in 2019.

A Jan. 4 meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia, a group known as OPEC+, also looms over the market.

OPEC+ is tapering record oil output cuts made this year to support the market. The group is set to boost output by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) in January, and Russia supports another increase of the same amount in February.