North American benchmark oil prices climbed from $37.14 United States dollars per barrel on Friday November 6th to $43.06 on Wednesday November 11th following the unexpected news that Pfizer and BioNTech had a vaccine breakthrough that appeared about 90% effective in preventing Covid-19 in participants without prior infection. Hopeful news that a vaccine could mean that post-pandemic life may not be as distant as once feared drove up the oil prices, but by Friday November 13th, oil prices dropped down to $40.13 per barrel amid concerns about the direction of the pandemic alongside impacts of more lockdowns across Europe and North America.

The Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) said that as of now, it is too early to know when and whether vaccines will allow life to return to pre-pandemic conditions, though they do not believe that the presence of a vaccine will not significantly impact oil prices in the first half of 2021. Meanwhile, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said that oil prices may recover slower than initially anticipated in 2021 as Covid-19 coronavirus cases and deaths continue to increase world-wide. As of now, over 54 million confirmed cases of the Covid-19 coronavirus have been reported around the globe alongside over 1.3 million Covid-19-related deaths. Though just under 35 million people worldwide are though to have recovered, daily new cases are nearly at an all-time high.

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