Oil Prices Fell by About $3 on Monday Due to Omicron Surge

The surge in Omicron coronavirus variants in Europe and the United States has sparked investors’ concerns. The new restrictions on actions taken to curb its spread may hit fuel demand.

At 1330 GMT, Brent crude oil futures fell by US$2.79, or 3.7%, to US$70.73 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures fell by US$3.26, or 4.6%, to 67.60. Dollar.

The Netherlands entered a lockdown on Sunday. The possibility of implementing more COVID-19 restrictions before the Christmas and New Year holidays looms over several European countries.

U.S. health officials on Sunday urged Americans to vaccinate booster shots, wear masks, and be careful when traveling during winter vacation because the Omicron variant is raging around the world and will become the primary strain of the virus in the United States.

At the same time, U.S. energy companies added oil and gas rigs for the second consecutive week this week.

In its closely watched report on Friday, energy services company Baker Hughes stated that the number of oil and gas rigs increased by 3 in the week of December 17, reaching 579, the highest level since April 2020.

However, the quarterly export schedule seen by Reuters on Friday showed that Russia’s export volume should decrease. The country’s oil exports and transshipment will be 56.05 million tons in the first quarter of 2022 and 5830 in the fourth quarter of 2021. 10,000 tons.

At the same time, two sources from the organization told Reuters that OPEC+’s compliance rate for oil production cuts in November was 117%, an increase of 1% from the previous month, as production continued to lag behind agreed targets.