Oil edges up towards $75, Omicron concerns dominate

Oil edges up towards $75, Omicron concerns dominate

LONDON - Oil prices edged higher towards $75 a barrel on Tuesday after the International Energy Agency (IEA) said that the new Omicron coronavirus variant was set to dent the global demand recovery. Brent crude oil futures rose 27 cents, or 0.36%, to $74.66 a barrel by 1231 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 23 cents, or 0.32%, to $71.52. "The surge in new COVID-19 cases is expected to temporarily slow, but not upend, the recovery in oil demand that is underway," the Paris-based IEA said in its monthly oil report. Governments around the world, including most recently Britain and Norway, have tightened restrictions to stop the spread of the Omicron variant. The IEA lowered its forecast for oil demand this year and the next by 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) each, mostly due to the expected blow to jet fuel use from new travel curbs. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries on Monday raised its world oil demand forecast for the first quarter of 2022 and stuck to its timeline for a return to pre-pandemic levels of oil use, saying the Omicron coronavirus variant would have a mild and brief impact. At the same