Crude oil prices remained bullish for the fourth day amid expectations of limited impact of Omicron on global oil demand. As of 1155 hours GMT on Thursday, Brent, the international benchmark for two-thirds of the world’s oil, gained $1.03 (+1.27 percent) to reach $81.83 a barrel. On the other hand, the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) price reached $78.92 a barrel, up by $1.07 (+1.37 percent). The price for Opec Basket was recorded at $78.93 a barrel with a gain of 1.19 percent, Arab Light was available at $80.91 a barrel with a decrease of 0.15 percent and the price of Russian Sokol reached $81.03 a barrel with a decrease of 0.22 percent. Oil prices in the early trading took a dip after hitting the one-month high as rising fuel stockpiles in the United States raised demand concerns. The American Petroleum Institute reported this week that the US stockpiles rose by 7.1 million barrels in the week to December 31. Distillate stockpiles climbed by 4.4 million barrels in the week, API added. However, the bullish sentiment prevailed later and crude prices returned to upward trajectory. The increase in oil prices comes after the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (Opec+) decided to boost supplies from February by 0.4 million barrels per day. The Opec+ believes that Omicron will only have a short-lived impact on global energy demand. Though Omicron cases continue to climb globally, the absence of widespread lockdown restrictions is likely to keep near-term oil demand concerns in check. The experts are of the view that the market fundamentals have weakened recently as reflected in the aggregate time spread which is a good indicator of the prevailing demand-supply balance. They believe that Omicron will have less of an impact on oil demand as it proves more mild than initially feared. But there will be some effect on demand from increased restrictions on international travel and the sheer scale of the recent spread, they added. Moreover, the people being hospitalised with Covid-19 are generally showing less severe symptoms than before, which suggests that though the surge of the fast-spreading Omicron variant is disrupting some sectors, there is at present no risk of it paralysing the global economies.