Oil prices had their best week since August as market fears receded

Oil prices posted their biggest weekly increase in more than three months as the worst fears of the new strain of the virus receded
, World Oil reported on Dec.
12.

West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 8.
2%
for the week.
So far, fuel consumption has not been hit by any major blows to the Omicron variant
.
Yet faith is limited
.
Similar sell-offs that occurred last Thursday continue from time to time due to rising infection rates and some governments tightened travel restrictions
.

Ed Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda Corp, said: "Crude oil prices performed well
this week as the unease caused by Omicron eased and the growth prospects of the US economy in 2022 were largely unaffected.
”

After weeks of slumping, oil has seen a marked turnaround
after falling into a bear market on November 30.
But concerns about the Omicron variant remain, with one study showing that its early stages of transmission were 4.
2 times
higher than the Delta strain.

Some signs of weakness are emerging
.
Although Saudi Arabia raised the price of oil sales in January, traders still face the prospect
of a weak spot market for Asian crude.
The immediate spread for global benchmark Brent crude also narrowed this week, pointing to a bearish trend
.

Price:

WTI for January delivery in New York rose 73 cents to settle at $
71.
67 a barrel.

Brent crude settled up 73 cents in February to settle at $
75.
15 a barrel.

Many parts of the eastern United States, including New Jersey and Connecticut, are experiencing an increase
in hospitalizations.
And in the UK, the City of London may be on the verge of becoming a ghost town
again after companies began requiring thousands of employees to work from home in response to the government's latest directives.

In the U.
S.
, consumer prices rose last month at their fastest annual pace in nearly 40 years, fueling persistent inflation and consumers facing the biggest increase in energy bills
in more than a decade.
Headline inflation data continues to add to the pressure on the Fed to
tighten monetary policy.