Oil prices ended slightly lower on Thursday, particularly in the face of the worsening of the Covid-19 epidemic. The North Sea Brent crude contract for January delivery fell 0.31% or 14 cents, from Wednesday's close at $44.20.

In New York, the US barrel of WTI for December fell 0.19% or 8 cents to $41.74. Prices, which had lost more during the session, recovered a little at the close. “We are witnessing a speed race between Covid and vaccines,” summarized Robert Yawger of Mizuho USA. At the same time, he has hope for the future with vaccines,” he explained.

After the good news on the spectacular effectiveness of future vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, it was the turn of the British laboratory AstraZeneca to announce encouraging results of its vaccine in the elderly.

The United States has reached the bar of 250,000 deaths attributed to the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic. And the epidemic has started to rise again significantly in recent weeks among the first consumer of black gold.