Oil prices jump more than US$1 as US output struggles to fully restart

SINGAPORE, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Oil prices jumped by more than US$1 on Tuesday, underpinned by optimism over Covid-19 vaccine rollouts and lower output as US supplies were slow to return after a deep freeze in Texas shut in crude production last week.

Shale oil producers in the southern United States could take at least two weeks to restart the more than 2 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude output that shut down because of cold weather, as frozen pipes and power supply interruptions slow their recovery, sources said.