Oil prices rose on Monday as a hurricane on the Gulf of Mexico forced energy companies to halt part of their oil production, and amid optimism after the U.S. consent on using blood plasma as a treatment to the coronavirus.

Crude oil futures traded $42.63 a barrel, after incurring a weekly loss last week, while Brent crude surged for the first time in five sessions to $44.65 a barrel, as of 07:55 GMT.

Hurricane Marco hit the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico on Sunday, resulting in closures of 58 percent of oil production by energy companies. The shutdowns raised concerns regarding supply shortage from the region that covers 17 percent of America’s aggregate oil output.

On the other hand, the U.S. FDA approved the usage of blood plasma of recovering patients as a treatment to the Covid-19, claiming that such method can lead to lower mortality and accelerate recovery in patients.

President Trump hailed the treatment as he said: “This is what I’ve been looking to do for a long time. Today I’m pleased to make a truly historic announcement in our battle against the China virus that will save countless lives.”

The newly approved U.S. treatment managed to boost sentiment in the market, therefore pushing stocks up.  

The Euro STOXX 600 benchmark index is meanwhile 1.47 percent up at 370.47 points, hovering near last week’s high of 371.23.

Another key contributor to the rise in oil prices was the announcement by OPEC+ that they need to cut production by over a million barrels per day for two months to ward off the rise in output by members during the period from May to July.

Last week, oil prices finished lower after a report signaling that U.S. oil and natural rig count edged up last week for the first time since March, where oil companies added the biggest number of oil rigs in seven months.

The US dollar index was 0.20 percent lower at 93.06, amid absence of important economic data from the United States or other major economies.