Daily Times

Crude oil prices continued rallying on Wednesday as concerns about impact of the Omicron coronavirus variant on fuel demand eased.

At 1300 hours GMT, Brent, the international benchmark for two-thirds of the world’s oil, gained $0.32 (+0.42 percent) to reach $75.76 a barrel. Similarly, the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) price reached $72.19 a barrel, up by $0.14 (+0.19 percent).

The price for Opec Basket was recorded at $71.41 a barrel with a decrease of 0.28 percent, Arab Light was available at $76.48 with 1.72 percent increase, and the price of Russian Sokol reached $76.84 with an increase of 2.58 percent.

Oil prices also climbed by nearly 5 percent on Monday last and three percent a day earlier on hopes the Omicron coronavirus variant would have a less damaging economic impact if its symptoms proved mostly mild and as some OPEC member countries signalled confidence in the market. The Saudi Arabia on Sunday raised January’s official selling prices for all crude grades sold to Asia and the United States by up to 80 cents from the previous month.

Meanwhile, the US government has sold Iranian petroleum products confiscated by the navy in the waters of the Arabian Sea for $26.7 million, the Department of Justice said in a statement released on Tuesday. The volume of crude sold reportedly amounted to about 1.1 million barrels. The returns would reportedly be sent to the US Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund. The statement doesn’t specify when the maritime forfeiture operations were conducted, but claims that the petroleum products were seized from four foreign-flagged tankers in or around the Arabian Sea while en route to Venezuela. It is also not clear if the seizure of Iranian crude was legal under international and US laws.