Crude oil prices buoyed by tight supply and expectations that rising Covid-19 cases will not derail global demand recovery. As of 1340 hours GMT on Wednesday, Brent, the international benchmark for two-thirds of the world’s oil, gained $0.30 (+0.36 percent) to reach $84.02 a barrel, its highest settlement since early November. On the other hand, the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) price reached $81.67 a barrel, up by $0.45 (+0.55 percent), which has been its highest price since mid-November. The price for Opec Basket was recorded at $81.75 a barrel with a loss of 0.47 percent, Arab Light was available at $83.10 a barrel with an increase of 2.57 percent and the price of Russian Sokol jumped to $85.51 a barrel with an increase of 4.10 percent. The Omicron variant of coronavirus hit the world in late November 2021. Though concerns about the hit to demand from the Omicron virus variant have eased and major economies continue to rebound from the pandemic, there’s still some uncertainty in Asia. Hong Kong announced tighter curbs on Wednesday. Earlier this week, the small Chinese city of Yuzhou went into lockdown after a few virus cases, while Xi’an has seen prolonged restrictions after a flare-up. Brent crude oil rose by 50 percent in 2021 and has further rallied in 2022 as demand has recovered to near pre-pandemic levels.