Louth Online
NEW YORK:
Oil prices edged up on Friday and posted their biggest weekly gain since late August, with market sentiment supported by allaying concerns about the impact of the Omicron coronavirus variant on global economic growth and demand. fuel.The benchmarks for Brent crude and US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) each posted gains of around 8% this week, their first weekly gain in seven, even after a brief profit take.
Brent futures were up 73 cents, or 1%, to $ 75.15 a barrel, after falling 1.9% on Thursday. WTI rose 73 cents, or 1%, to $ 71.67 after slipping 2% in a volatile session the day before.
“Oil traders are coming out of their shells and feeling more optimistic as they recalibrate their demand expectations in the wake of the Omicron change in the coronavirus,†said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at the Chicago Price Futures Group .
Consumer prices in the United States rose again in November to produce the largest year-over-year increase since 1982, government data showed, bolstering bullish sentiment on oil demand.
Earlier in the week, the oil market had recouped about half of the losses suffered since the Omicron outbreak on November 25, as prices rose by early studies suggesting three doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine offer protection against the Omicron variant.
“The oil market has therefore again rightly assessed the ‘worst case scenario’, but it would be wise to leave some residual risk in place for oil demand,” said Carsten Fritsch, analyst at Commerzbank.
Price controls are rocking domestic air traffic in China, amid tighter travel restrictions and lower consumer confidence after repeated small outbreaks.
Rating agency Fitch downgraded property developers China Evergrande Group and Kaisa Group, saying they had defaulted on offshore bonds.
This has heightened fears of a potential slowdown in China’s real estate sector, as well as the broader economy of the world’s largest oil importer.
Also read:
Oil prices fell on Thursday after OPEC and its allies stuck with their current policy of increasing monthly oil production despite fears that a release of U.S. crude reserves and the new variant of the coronavirus Omicron is exerting further pressure on prices.
One example is last week’s meeting of the OPEC + Exporter Group, where they decided to maintain their current policy of increasing monthly production despite uncertainty over the current state of the economy. supply and demand.
