Crude oil futures rose in mid-morning trade in Asia Dec. 23, on track for a third straight day of gains, as emerging studies continued to downplay the severity of the coronavirus omicron variant.
US inventory data showing a large draw in crude oil stocks last week also lent support. At 9:55 am Singapore time (0155 GMT), the ICE February Brent futures contract was up 35 cents/b (0.46%) from the previous close at $75.64/b, while the NYMEX February light sweet crude contract rose 34 cents/b (0.47%) at $73.10/b. “The Omicron virus front continued to see some downplaying of risks overnight. Coming after [US] President Biden’s recent reassurance of restrictions as the less-preferred approach, studies continue to show that the Omicron is far below the Delta variant in terms of hospitalization risk,” said IG market strategist Yeap Jun Rong. […]