Crude oil rises despite rising Omicron concerns

Crude oil prices rose on Tuesday despite rising cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus in various parts of the world. The prices of Brent crude oil hit US$80 per barrel, strengthened by supply outages.

March delivery Brent Crude oil futures last traded at US$78.91 per barrel down 0.17%, whereas February delivery WTI crude oil futures traded 0.24% up at US$76.16 per barrel as of 29 December 2021 at 12:20 PM AEDT.

Both the contracts reached their highest level in a month, strengthened by boosting US equities.

Omicron fear amid Christmas dimming demand

The US oil inventories are expected to drop for the fifth week in a row, while gasoline inventories were seen mostly unchanged in the last week.

England on the other hand decided not to face any COVID-19 restrictions this year, as the government awaits more evidence if the health services are able to cope with high infection rates.

Source: © Michalsuszycki | Megapixl.com

Omicron-induced staff shortages led to various flight cancellations amid Christmas week in the US.

Oil watchers are eagerly waiting for the meeting of OPEC and its allies, scheduled on 4 January where the cartel will decide whether to go ahead with the planned production increase of 400,000 bpd in February.

During the last meeting, the group decided to boost its output for January despite rising cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus.  

Bottom Line

Crude oil prices rose on Tuesday despite rising concerns of the Omicron variant of coronavirus. Both the contracts reached their highest level in the last one month, aided by strength in U.S. equities.