Oil prices were recovering on Wednesday, driven by hopes for better days for demand and ahead of the U.S. Energy Information Agency's (EIA) release of the state of crude inventories in the country.

Around 11:25 GMT (12:25 in Paris), the barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in February gained 0.18% in London compared to Tuesday's close, at $ 48.93.

In New York, the US barrel of WTI for the month of January appreciated at the same time by 0.33% to 45.75 dollars.

"Oil prices are holding steady and even approaching their recent highs in several months," said Eugen Weinberg, an analyst at Commerzbank.

Brent was indeed trading close to the symbolic mark of $ 50 a barrel that it has already approached Friday. Exceeding it would return the European reference to a price more seen since March 6, at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Optimism around the coronavirus vaccine is helping to drive up oil prices," said Naeem Aslam of Avatrade.

The United Kingdom on Tuesday launched its Covid-19 vaccination campaign, the first in a Western country, and investors are now waiting for it to become widespread around the world in order to end travel restrictions and boost demand for crude.

In addition, observers and market participants "will take a close look at the upcoming data on crude inventories (in the United States), the main event of the day for black gold," Aslam continued.

The American Petroleum Institute (API), the federation that brings together professionals in the oil sector, published on Tuesday its estimate of the state of stocks in the country, reporting an increase of 1.1 million barrels.

The EIA, with figures deemed more reliable, will publish its own later in the day on Wednesday. According to the median of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, the institution expects a decline of around 1.035 million barrels for the week ended December 4.