Oil prices up due to supply disruptions in Texas

By Sibel Morrow

ANKARA (AA) - Oil prices recorded limited gains on Wednesday as weather-related supply disruptions in the southern US countered the rising value of the dollar.

International benchmark Brent crude was trading at $63.51 per barrel at 0704 GMT for a 0.25% rise after closing Wednesday at $63.35 a barrel.

American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was at $60.14 per barrel at the same time for a 0.15% increase after it ended the previous session at $60.05 a barrel.

Supporting higher oil prices, severe weather conditions in Texas, the biggest crude producing state in the US, led to the shutdown of several oil wells and refineries, curbing more than 2 million barrels per day (bpd) of US shale oil.

Oil prices were also buoyed with more positive news about vaccine developments.

Johnson & Johnson applied for conditional marketing authorization of its COVID-19 vaccine, which suggests that more people will soon be able to receive a shot while supporting the normalization of economic data and oil demand.

Crude oil prices, which are indexed to the US dollar, came under pressure with the rising value of the greenback.

The US dollar index, which measures the value of the American dollar against a basket of currencies including the Japanese yen, British pound, Canadian dollar, Swedish krona and Swiss franc, rose 0.19% to 90.68.