| At 10:30 am Singapore time (0215 GMT), the ICE February Brent futures contract was up 43 cents/b (0.62%) from the previous close at $73.51/b, while the NYMEX January light sweet crude contract rose 58 cents/b (0.59%) at $70.07/b.
Analysts have maintained that the recent sell-off that sent oil prices crashing by more than 20% over the last two weeks was overdone. Emerging reports continued to cement the view that governments will not see the same scale of fatalities and hospitalizations that characterized earlier variants. That optimism sent both front month crude oil benchmarks settling 4.6%-4.9% higher overnight. (S&P Global Platts)
“While markets continue to await scientific updates on the omicron variant, news-driven expectations are that it will be more transmissible, but less severe and existing vaccines may work on the variant to some degree,” Yeap said. “Thus far, the surge in COVID-19 cases in South Africa has not overwhelmed hospital capacity, which is fueling some optimism among the dip buyers that the previous sell-off for reopening sectors may have been overdone.” (S&P Global Platts)
The White House said on Monday that the U.S. ban on foreign nationals entering the country from eight southern African countries is something President Joe Biden’s public health advisers reconsider daily. Reports in South Africa said Omicron cases there had only shown mild symptoms and the top U.S. infectious disease official, Anthony Fauci, told CNN “it does not look like there’s a great degree of severity” so far. (Reuters)
Global benchmark Brent has risen 38% this year, supported by output curbs led by the OPEC+ group of producers, though it has fallen from a three-year high above $86 in October. Iraq’s Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar said he expects oil prices to reach over $75, state news agency INA reported. He added that OPEC is trying to “positively contain” the energy market, INA said (Reuters)
OIL MARKET ROUND-UP:
* China Crude Imports Climb to Highest Since August on New Quotas
* BP Says the World’s Key Oil Price Suffers ‘Regular Dislocations’
* Iraq Sees Oil Prices to Recover, Exceed $75 In Coming Months
* Oil ETFs See $500 Million Cash Influx After Crude Price Plunge
* Rosneft to Ship Up To 2M Tons of Crude to Indian Oil In 2022
* China’s Unipec Buys About 10 Mln Bbls of Prompt Brazilian Crude
* U.S. Imports of Gasoline from Europe Edge Lower W/w
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