SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Oil prices fell on Friday as surging cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant raised fears new curbs may hit fuel demand.
Brent crude futures fell 52 cents to $74.50 a barrel at 0845 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures dropped 67 cents to $71.71 a barrel.
Brent is headed for a 1% loss this week, while WTI is poised to finish the week nearly flat.
“Look at what’s happening with Omicron – that’s a negative which people are trying to digest,” Reuters quoted Commonwealth Bank commodities analyst Vivek Dhar as saying.
“Are we going to be in line for some new restrictions? That’s what the market’s trying digest.”
In Denmark, South Africa and the United Kingdom, the number of new Omicron cases has been doubling every two days. Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Thursday warned the government may impose further curbs to limit the spread of Omicron.
In the United States, the rapid spread of the Omicron variant has led some companies to pause plans to get workers back into offices.
“Messages of caution and warnings of a worsening COVID wave are starting to ring louder with the approach of the year-end holiday season, dampening market sentiment,” said Vandana Hari, energy analyst at Vanda Insights.
“Crude may remain in a holding pattern, albeit with plenty of price volatility around the mean, in holiday-thinned trading over the next couple of weeks.”
