|
Brent crude oil futures dropped 24 cents, or 0.32%, to $74.15 a
barrel by 0957 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI)
crude futures declined by 27 cents, or 0.38%, to $71.02.
"The surge in new COVID-19 cases is expected to temporarily
slow, but not upend, the recovery in oil demand that is
underway," the Paris-based IEA said in its monthly oil
report.[IEA/S]
Governments around the world, including most recently Britain
and Norway, have tightened restrictions to stop the spread of
the Omicron variant.
The IEA lowered its forecast for oil demand this year and the
next by 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) each, mostly due to the
expected blow to jet fuel use from new travel curbs.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries on Monday
raised its world oil demand forecast for the first quarter of
2022 and stuck to its timeline for a return to pre-pandemic
levels of oil use, saying the Omicron coronavirus variant would
have a mild and brief impact.
At the same time, the Asian Development Bank on Tuesday trimmed
its growth forecasts for developing Asia for this year and next
to reflect risks and uncertainty brought on by the variant,
which could also hamper oil demand.
On the supply side, OPEC and other major producers including
Russia, a group known as OPEC+, plan to gradually increase
supply every month by 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) after
sharply cutting back output last year.
Output in the largest U.S. shale basin is expected to surge to a
record in January, according to a monthly forecast from the U.S.
Energy Information Administration on Monday.
(Additional reporting by Jessica Jaganathan; Editing by Stephen
Coates, David Evans and Louise Heavens)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
