Oil extends gains, rises more than 4%

Oil drilling rigs

Oil prices rose on after Monday Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said there is no need for urgent measures in the oil market.

The international benchmark Brent crude was trading up 4.19% at $75.77 per barrel (bbl), at 10.44 am Makkah time.

WTI crude rose 4.8% to $71.42/bbl.

On Friday, oil prices crashed by more than 10%, their largest one-day drop since April 2020, as the new coronavirus variant added to investors’ concerns of another slowdown in the global economic recovery that could hurt oil demand.

The Omicron variant has already spread around the world, with new cases found in the Netherlands, Denmark and Australia even as more countries imposed travel restrictions.

Meanwhile, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) postponed its technical meetings, to allow themselves more time to assess the impact of the Omicron on oil demand and prices, Reuters reported, citing OPEC+ sources and documents.

The group will now meet on Dec. 2 instead of Nov. 30.