2020.12.3010:21:00UTC+00Crude Oil Prices Move Higher

Crude oil prices are higher Wednesday morning, extending gains from previous session, amid hopes the rollout of coronavirus vaccines in several countries across the world, and the U.S. coronavirus relief package will help lift energy demand.

Data from American Petroleum Institute (API) that showed a larger than expected drop in U.S. crude inventories last week, and a weaker dollar are contributing to oil's uptick.

Traders are also looking ahead to the inventory data from Energy Information Administration (EIA) later in the morning.

West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February are up $0.40 or 0.82% at $48.40 a barrel.

Brent crude futures are up $0.45 or 0.88% at $51.68 a barrel.

A report released by API late Tuesday said U.S. crude inventories fell 4.79 million barrels last week to 492.9 million barrels, much higher than an expected drop of about 3.1 million barrels.

Meanwhile, traders continue to look ahead to the OPEC meeting, scheduled to take place on January 4. The group and its allies, including Russia, are set to discuss tapering oil output cuts.