Easing Omicron Concerns Help Oil Gain – 6 December, 2021

Hopes that the Omicron variant may be milder than anticipated helped oil gain and ease concerns over demand. With some countries still imposing strict travel bans and hospitals being less overwhelmed, Futures in New York were over $70, closing almost 5% higher the previous session. Imports were also at a three month high in China for the month of November, helping the commodity claw back from some losses after news of the new variant broke. President Biden’s release of crude from the Strategic Petroleum Release is an effort to reduce surging gasoline prices, while Saudi Arabia made a move to increase the cost of crude for January, helping the market’s confidence in demand. West Texas Intermediate was up 1% for January to $70.18 per barrel, while Brent was up 0.8% to $73.64 for February having climbed 4.6% on Monday. Countries such as France have taken measures to control the virus by shutting down some public spaces, and cities such as New York have implemented vaccine mandates for the private sector. Other places such as Hong Kong have imposed quarantine requirements for travelers from certain countries.