Affected by the changes in the epidemic, oil prices soared to more than $85 per barrel

International oil benchmark Brent crude climbed above $84 a barrel on Wednesday as tight supply eased concerns about the potential impact of the Omicron virus on demand
, The Punch reported Jan.
13.

As of 7 p.
m.
Nigerian time on Wednesday, Brent crude rose $1.
42 to $85.
14 a barrel
.
Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at OANDA Asia Pacific, said in a note that Brent oil prices could approach $100/b
this quarter.

"Assuming the economy doesn't slow down sharply, the impact of Omicron is minimal, and OPEC+ has a clearly limited ability to raise production, I see no reason why Brent crude couldn't reach $100 a barrel in the first quarter, probably sooner
," he said.
But "having said that, I acknowledge that there will be a lot of different outcomes in the future, with the biggest risk being the impact of the pandemic in Asia.
"

Rigzone reported on Tuesday that the U.
S.
Energy Information Administration raised Brent's 2022 spot price forecast
citing its short-term energy outlook for January.
The group now expects Brent crude spot prices to average $74.
95 per barrel this year, $4.
90 higher than the $70.
05 a barrel that EIA predicted on STEO last December
.

The latest STEO forecasts that looking ahead to 2023, the average spot price of Brent crude oil will fall to $
67.
50 per barrel for the first time in 2023.
The EIA January STEO report noted that the average spot price of Brent crude oil in 2021 was $
70.
89 per barrel.

The organization expects global liquid fuel consumption to increase by 3.
6 million barrels per day by 2022 and 1.
8 million barrels
per day by 2023.
OPEC crude oil production is expected to increase by 2.
5 million bpd to 28.
8 million bpd by 2022 and another 100,000 bpd to 28.
9 million bpd
by 2023.

The EIA pointed out that its latest STEO reflects increased uncertainty about the direction of oil prices due to the impact of the current pandemic
.