oil prices

Crude prices ended little changed on Friday after erasing earlier gains on growing worries that rising coronavirus cases and a new variant could reduce global oil demand.

The discovery of a new coronavirus variant named Omicron triggered global alarm on Friday as countries rushed to suspend travel from southern Africa, and the equity and commodity markets on both sides of the Atlantic suffered their most significant drop in more than a year.

Crude futures moved sharply lower on Friday as the markets weighed the impacts of new pandemic lockdowns in Europe and a stronger US dollar. WTI settled down $2.91 at $76.10, and Brent moved $2.35 lower to settle at $78.89.

Prices notched the longest stretch of weekly losses since March, with President Biden keeping investors guessing about whether he’ll act to tame higher energy prices that are driving a surge in inflation.

The OPEC+ group of major producers agreed on Thursday to stick to their plan to raise oil output by 400,000 b/d from December, ignoring calls from President Biden for extra output to cool rising prices.

Futures rose above $84 a barrel on Friday, within sight of a multi-year high hit last week. Expectations that OPEC and its allies will keep supply tight countered a weekly rise in US inventories and the prospect of more Iranian exports.

Futures rallied last week on concerns that rising consumption is racing ahead of supply.   Oil prices rose early on Thursday, with Brent Crude rallying to $86.10—the highest price since October 2018.

West Texas Intermediate crude closed above $80 a barrel on Monday for the first time since late 2014 as a growing power crisis from Europe to Asia boosts demand for oil ahead of winter.

Prices rose for the fifth straight week with the global energy crunch set to boost demand for crude as stockpiles decline from the US to China.

Brent futures dipped on Friday but held above $75 a barrel, remaining on track for weekly gains of more than 3% thanks to the slow recovery in output after two hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico.

Futures rose towards $73 a barrel on Friday as refineries in Louisiana restarted and returning offshore production could not keep pace.