Crude oil prices edged lower for the third day in a row on Wednesday amid concerns over new coronavirus variant. At 1310 hours GMT, Brent, the international benchmark for two-thirds of the world’s oil, shed $0.73 (-0.99 percent) to reach $72.97 a barrel. Similarly, the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) price reached $69.91 a barrel, down by $0.91 (-1.29 percent). The price for Opec Basket was recorded at $74.03 a barrel with a decrease of 1.41 percent, Arab Light was available at $74.18 with 1.97 percent decrease, and the price of Russian Sokol slipped to $74.50 with a decrease of 2.37 percent. Crude oil prices in 2021 are 12 percent down for the month, and down by 18 percent from the kind of highs it saw this year. However, it is still up 46 percent for the current year so clearly, the volatility has been quite high. The global oil consumption is a number to watch out for – this year is 96.9 million barrels per day, next year is expected to be higher at 100.46 million barrels per day – that clearly has been a supportive factor there. However, OPEC said that the first quarter of next year is expected to be slightly sluggish. New-well oil production per rig, on the other hand, has gained some serious ground over the last three years, increasing nearly 85 percent since the start of 2019, EIA data showed. According to the data, new-well oil production per rig rose to 1,142 barrels per day in December, and is expected to stay close to that figure in January, at 1,140. Governments around the world, including most recently Britain and Norway, are tightening restrictions to stop the spread of the Omicron variant. In China, major manufacturing province Zhejiang is fighting its first Covid-19 cluster this year, with tens of thousands of citizens in quarantine and virus-hit areas suspending business operations, cutting flights and cancelling events.