Oil held near a one-month high after industry data pointed to another drop in U.S. crude inventories and traders bet the fast-spreading omicron variant would prove to be less severe than earlier virus waves. West Texas Intermediate was steady near $76 a barrel after gaining 11% over the past five sessions. The American Petroleum Institute reported nationwide crude holdings fell by 3.1 million barrels last week, according to people familiar with the data, which also showed an increase at Cushing, the biggest U.S. storage hub. The government releases the official tally later on Wednesday. Investor worries about omicron are easing on growing evidence that the variant is milder in nature , potentially reducing the need to impose restrictions on movement. The rapid spread of omicron has yet to hit road traffic across most of Asia, mobility data compiled by Bloomberg show. Crude is heading for its biggest annual gain […]