The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for December delivery gained 1.21 U.S. dollars to settle at 41.34 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for January delivery increased 1.04 dollars to close at 43.82 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
The positive market reactions came as U.S. biotechnology company Moderna on Monday said its experimental vaccine candidate was 94.5 percent effective in preventing COVID-19.
"The general optimism among investors and a weaker U.S. dollar are giving oil prices a boost as the new week begins," Eugen Weinberg, energy analyst at Commerzbank Research, said in a note.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was down 0.13 percent at 92.6362 in late trading on Monday.
For the week ending Friday, WTI crude futures climbed 8.1 percent, while Brent gained 8.4 percent.
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