Oil rebounds above $ 71 a barrel on lower Omicron fear

The oil prices They rose more than $ 1 a barrel to more than $ 71 on Monday morning as expectations that the Omicron variant of the coronavirus would cause mostly mild symptoms drove riskier assets and because the outlook for an imminent surge of Iranian crude exports seemed less likely.

Reports in South Africa said that Omicon cases in the country had only mild symptoms and America’s top infectious disease official told CNN that “there doesn’t appear to be a strong level of severity” so far, alleviating market concerns about the variant.

Crude futures Brent were gaining $ 1.41, or 2.02%, at $ 71.31 a barrel, while oil futures WTI from the United States totaled $ 1.55, or 2.31%, at $ 67.8 a barrel.

Both referential contracts fell for the sixth week in a row In the past week.

If Ómicron is shown to be less aggressive in the coming days (or weeks), even if it is more contagious, then we can say that last week’s lows at 100% were the bargain of the quarter, “said Jeffrey Halley, analyst at the OANDA brokerage.

Relaxation of fears around Omicron it also boosted European stocks and safer assets, such as bonds, were down after recent gains.

Brent is up 38% this year, backed by production restrictions led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, a group known as OPEC +, and the recovery in demand, although it has fallen from a three-year high above $ 86 in October.

The OPEC + decided last week to continue increasing monthly supply by 400,000 barrels per day in January, even after a drop in prices fueled by concerns around the Omicron variant.

Crude was also fueled by diminishing prospects for increased Iranian oil exports after indirect talks between Washington and Tehran to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran broke down last week.