Oil prices rise as after Trump returns to the White House

Shafaq News/ Oil prices rose on Tuesday following U.S. President Donald Trump’s return to the White House from hospital after being treated for COVID-19 last Friday, while another storm brewing in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico posed a threat to refineries, Reuters reported.

Prices fell sharply last Friday when Trump went into hospital, then climbed more than 5% on Monday after he said he would return to the White House and as hopes grew that a deal could be agreed for a U.S. economic stimulus package to counter the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures were trading up 24 cents, or 0.6% at $39.46 a barrel at 0435 GMT.

Brent crude LCOc1 futures rose 21 cents, or 0.5%, to $41.50 a barrel.

As by Reuters, An expanding strike by workers in Norway, which shut six offshore oil and gas fields, and the evacuation of oil platforms in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico ahead of Tropical Storm Delta heading toward Louisiana and Florida also helped support prices.

 “It’s the supply-side factors that have changed in the last 24 hours and are contributing more to the uplift,” said Lachlan Shaw, head of commodity research at National Australia Bank.

Meanwhile hopes for a bipartisan U.S. economic relief package grew as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke on Monday and prepared to talk again Tuesday, continuing a recent flurry of activity working towards a deal on legislation.