Brent Crude Oil Rose to $51 Per Barrel After FDA Backs Pfizer’s COVID-19 Vaccine

Brent crude oil, against which Nigeria’s crude oil is priced, rose to $51.02 per barrel on Thursday after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of United States backed Pfizer’s COVID-19 Vaccine.

A move widely interpreted as “paving way for emergency use of the vaccine in the United States” despite FDA saying it needs external experts to provide valuable input and advice for the agency to consider as part of its review.

In a statement released after the meeting held on Thursday, FDA said “Today, the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC), made up of independent scientific and public health experts from around the country, met to discuss the first request for emergency use authorization (EUA) for a vaccine for COVID-19 prevention, submitted by Pfizer Inc. in partnership with BioNTech Manufacturing GmbH.

“This meeting is an important step in the review process, providing an opportunity for outside experts to provide valuable advice and input for the agency to consider as part of its review. Importantly, the final decision about whether to authorize the vaccine for emergency use will be made by FDA’s career officials.”

However, global commodity prices rose following the news while haven assets like Gold and the cryptocurrency’s most dominant coin, Bitcoin, declined as capital outflow surged with growing optimism.

The price of Brent crude oil has now moderated from $51.02 per barrel to $50.1 per barrel on Friday during the London trading session.