Oil falls after COVID-19 flight cancellations | Reuters

Oil falls after COVID-19 flight cancellations | Reuters

Oil fell on Monday after U.S. airlines called off thousands of flights over the Christmas holidays amid surging COVID-19 cases, though losses were capped by hopes that the Omicron variant will have limited impact on global demand.

More than 1,300 flights were cancelled by U.S. airlines on Sunday as COVID-19 reduced the number of available crews while several cruise ships had to cancel stops. read more

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down $1.20, or 1.6%, at $72.59 a barrel by 1222 GMT. The U.S. market was closed on Friday for a holiday. Global benchmark Brent crude fell 8 cents, or 0.1%, to $76.06.

"Lower travel equalling lower economic activity in the U.S. equals lower WTI," said Jeffrey Halley, analyst at brokerage OANDA, who added that the divergence between Brent and WTI could reflect that global recovery remains on course.