UPDATE 9-Oil gains nearly 3% on vaccine hopes, even as nations reimpose lockdowns

* Lockdowns would hurt demand but vaccine brings hope
* Saudi Arabia says OPEC+ could hold back supply increase

(Adds settlement prices)
By Laura Sanicola
NEW YORK, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Oil ended nearly 3% higher on
Tuesday as hopes that a COVID-19 vaccine is on the horizon
outweighed worries about a drop in fuel demand from new
lockdowns to contain the virus.
Brent crude LCOc1 futures settled up $1.21, or 2.9%, at
$43.61 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude
CLc1 futures gained $1.07, or 2.7%, to $41.36.
Both contracts jumped 8% on Monday, their biggest daily
gains in more than five months, after drugmakers Pfizer PFE.N
and BioNTech 22UAy.F said their experimental COVID-19
treatment was more than 90% effective based on initial trial
results.
Oil bounced again Tuesday afternoon after the director of
the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases,
Anthony Fauci, said doses of the vaccine will be available for
people at the highest priority in December.
"This implies that at some point in next year, people may be
able to go on vacation, which means we will see a greater demand
for jet fuel," said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at
Mizuho.
"For the energy complex this is the best thing since sliced
bread," he added.
Mass rollouts, however, are likely to be months away and
subject to regulatory approvals.
In the meantime, renewed lockdowns in Europe and rising
coronavirus cases in the United States are still hurting fuel
demand, however.
"The rising counts could associate with more intense
business lockdowns and work at home trends that have forced a
sharp curtailment in U.S. driving habits," said Jim Ritterbusch,
president of Ritterbusch and Associates in Galena, Illinois.
Traffic in London, Paris and Madrid fell sharply in November
after a peak in October, according to data provided to Reuters
by location technology company TomTom for mobility until Sunday
evening. There were more than 59,000 COVID-19 patients in hospitals
across the United States on Monday as U.S. coronavirus cases
surged to more than 10 million.
Prices were also boosted by comments from Saudi Arabia's
energy minister, who on Monday said that the Organization of the
Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, together known as
OPEC+, could tweak their supply pact if demand slumps before the
vaccine is available. OPEC+ agreed to cut supply by 7.7 million barrels per day
(bpd) from August through December and then ease the cuts by
about 2 million bpd in January.