Oil rises 3%, extending rally as Omicron fears retreat
Oil prices climbed by more than 3% on Tuesday, extending the previous day’s rebound of almost 5% as concerns eased further about the impact on global fuel demand of the Omicron coronavirus variant.
Brent crude futures settled up $2.36, or 3.2%, at $75.44 a barrel, after Monday’s rise of 4.6%.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose $2.56, or 3.7%, to $72.05, building on a 4.9% gain the previous session. At the session highs on Tuesday, each contract was up more than $3.
Oil prices tumbled last week on concerns that vaccines might be less effective against the new Omicron variant, sparking fears that governments could impose fresh restrictions that would sink fuel demand.
However, a South African health official reported over the weekend that Omicron cases there had shown only mild symptoms while the top U.S. infectious disease official, Anthony Fauci, also said there did not appear to be “a great degree of severity” with the variant so far.
Reference: CNBC
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