Oil gains 2.5% amid Omicron concerns

Oil drillig rigs

Oil prices jumped nearly 2.5% on Monday, recovering some losses from last week’s decline, as investors tracked updates on the Omicron coronavirus variant.

The international benchmark Brent crude was trading up 2.3% at $71.45 per barrel (bbl), at 9.00 am Makkah time.

WTI crude rose 2.4% to $67.87/bbl.

Both benchmarks rebounded after falling last week for their sixth week in a row for the first time since November 2018 on concerns that the new coronavirus variant Omicron could impact global economic growth and fuel demand, Reuters reported.

On Sunday, Saudi Arabia raised January official selling prices for all crude grades sold to Asia and the United States by up to 80 cents from the previous month.

Earlier, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) decided to continue increasing supplies by 400,000 barrels per day in January.