Oil Prices Rise By $1 Amid EU Stimulus Deal, Promising Vaccine Trial

Oil prices rose by around $1 on Tuesday after the European Union reached a stimulus deal and a vaccine in the United Kingdom showed positive results. Oil prices have dropped due to lower demand during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Brent crude rose by $1.04 to $44.32 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) increased by $1.15 to $41.96 a barrel.

EU leaders agreed Tuesday to create a 750 billion euro ($858 billion) recovery fund to boost economies and industries that have been devastated by the pandemic. Less than half of the fund would be in grants, with the rest of the aid taking the form of loans.

"It is an ambitious and comprehensive package combining the classical [budget] with an extraordinary recovery effort destined to tackle the effects of an unprecedented crisis in the best interest of the EU," EU leaders said in a joint declaration.

Oil prices were also reacting to a promising vaccine trial from the U.K., with results from the test published by the Lancet medical journal on Monday. An experimental vaccine developed by Oxford University and Astrazeneca helped trial participants trigger an immune response to COVID-19. The phase one trial had more than 1,000 participants.