Oil stable despite demand concerns over Omicron spread

Oil drilling rigs

Oil prices stabilized on Tuesday despite renewed restrictions were imposed in Europe and Asia amid a surge in coronavirus cases and concerns over global demand. 

Brent crude oil futures was at $74.33 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell marginally to $71.19 at 9.05am Makkah time . 

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, Reuters reported, citing Edward Moya, senior analyst at OANDA.

Governments around the world, including Britain and Norway, were tightening restrictions to stop the spread of the Omicron variant.

At least one person has died in Britain after contracting the Omicron coronavirus variant, the first publicly confirmed death globally from the swiftly spreading strain.

Elsewhere, the Asian Development Bank trimmed its growth forecasts for developing Asia for this year and next to reflect risks and uncertainty brought on by the Omicron coronavirus variant, which could also hamper oil demand.

However, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) 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, driven by Omicron variant’s “mild and brief impact”.