Oil Climbs From Four-Week High as Inventories Vie With Omicron - Bloomberg

Oil Climbs From Four-Week High as Inventories Vie With Omicron - Bloomberg

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West Texas Intermediate for February delivery rose 0.5% to $73.10 a barrel at 1:36 p.m. London time. Brent for February settlement climbed 0.4% to $75.57 a barrel. Oil rose from the highest settlement in four weeks as traders weighed falling U.S. crude stockpiles against the threat to demand from the omicron virus variant. Futures in New York traded above $73 a barrel, though liquidity is dwindling heading into the holiday period. U.S. crude inventories dropped by 4.72 million barrels last week, according to government data, almost twice the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. That offset some concerns about the impact of the omicron variant on global consumption. Trading volumes are starting to thin before Christmas, while open interest -- the total number of oil contracts held by traders -- for crude, gasoline and diesel futures combined is at its lowest in almost six years. Both could leave the market prone to sharp moves amid thin liquidity.