Oil prices steady on demand concerns over Omicron spread

Oil prices steady on demand concerns over Omicron spread

Brent crude oil futures edged higher by 1 cent to $74.40 a barrel by 0113 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 1 cent to $71.30.







Reuters









December 14, 2021 / 07:22 AM IST





The US government has been unable to persuade OPEC+ to pump more oil, with major producers arguing the world was not short of crude. (Representative image)



Oil prices edged higher on Tuesday but price gains were capped due to investor worries about oil demand after renewed restrictions were imposed in Europe and Asia amid a rise in coronavirus cases.

Brent crude oil futures edged higher by 1 cent to $74.40 a barrel by 0113 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 1 cent to $71.30.

"Energy traders don’t want to bet against OPEC+ but all the short-term risks from Omicron to Fed tightening is proving to be very disruptive to the short-term outlook for oil prices," said Edward Moya, senior analyst at OANDA.

”The virus spread across Europe is delivering a bigger hit than expected and when you calculate family gatherings for the holidays, the short-term outlook could get slashed over the next month.”

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