The oil market has started 2022 as it ended 2021: with a rally. With supplies curbed and demand fears fading, there are bullish signals for prices this year. Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg Oil has started off 2022 with a bang. A market that was supposed to suffer a ballooning surplus instead surpassed $80 a barrel last week as global demand shrugs off the omicron variant, while a host of supply constraints hit producers from Canada to Russia. With investment banks calling for higher prices, and options contracts invoking the prospect of crude spiraling above $100, the commodity is threatening to intensify the inflationary pain felt by major consumers. Such a rally would be bad news for fuel-hungry countries. It would also be a big blow to U.S. President Joe Biden, who invested a lot of time and effort in jawboning prices lower and orchestrating a global release of strategic petroleum […]