Black gold rose after Saudi Arabia raised the price of its crude oil sold to Asia and the United States, signaling its confidence in the prospects of demand despite the outbreak of the Omicron coronavirus variant.
In the Asian session, Brent crude futures added about 1.8% to $ 71.20 a barrel. Meanwhile, US WTI trading rose 2% to $ 67.65 a barrel.
Saudi Arabia once again raised the official selling price for January for all grades of crude oil sold to Asia and the United States.
The official selling price to Asia for Arab Light crude was raised by $ 0.60 cents to $ 3.30. The difference in January and December increases is the highest in almost 2 years. Meanwhile in the United States, the selling price increased to $ 2.15 per barrel.
The increase came days after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its ally, OPEC+ decided to continue with an additional production of 400,000 barrels a day in January.
While the commodity trade is on the rise, uncertainty about Omicron still plagues markets who fear it will significantly affect global fuel demand as more countries have tightened their border restrictions.
