US oil prices plummet, US crude falls after COVID-19 flight canceled by Reuters

By Florence Tan

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil prices have skyrocketed on Monday as Brent rose as futures plummeted after planes cut thousands of flights over the US over the Christmas holidays as COVID-19 infections grew.

US West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 41 cents or 0.6% to $ 73.38 a barrel for 0053 GMT. The contract was not negotiated on Friday because US markets were closed for the Christmas holidays.

It rose 40 cents, or 0.5%, to $ 76.54 a barrel, after falling 0.92% on Friday.

Both contracts rose from 3% to 4% last week, after initial data suggested that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 could cause a milder illness.

However, the variant is highly transmissible as the number of COVID-19 cases is growing worldwide.

In the last three days, thousands of passengers traveling at Christmas have been stopped after flights were canceled by US airlines due to a shortage of COVID-related staff.

In Europe, prices hit record highs in tight supplies last week, holding up Brent crude prices.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that the European Union could only blame its policy on the record price of gas, with some of its members selling cheap gas in Russia at much higher prices within the bloc.

Looking ahead, oil investors are looking forward to the next OPEC + meeting on 4 January.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (including allies including OPEC and Russia, known as OPEC +) will meet in February to decide whether to proceed with an increase in production of 400,000 barrels (bpd) per day.

Russia believes oil prices will not change significantly next year, as demand will return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2022, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Friday.