Oil Steadies Near Four-Week High as Inventories Vie With Omicron - Bloomberg

Oil Steadies Near Four-Week High as Inventories Vie With Omicron - Bloomberg

PRICES

West Texas Intermediate for February delivery rose 18 cents to $72.94 a barrel at 10:42 a.m. New York time. Brent for February settlement climbed 10 cents to $75.39 a barrel. Oil steadied near a four-week high as traders weighed falling U.S. crude stockpiles against the threat to demand from the omicron virus variant. Futures in New York traded near $73 a barrel during the session, 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 omicron on global consumption. “U.S. inventories remain very low,” said Scott Shelton, energy specialist at ICAP. “For those who are calling for builds in 2022, we had better start building or prices are going to $100-plus.” 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.