International oil prices continued to rise during Thursday's trading, despite the tendency of some countries to tighten closure restrictions to prevent the spread of the new Corona virus (Omicron).
Expectations are that fears about the new mutation will subside and that Omicron will not cause huge repercussions on global economic growth.
Vivek Dar, a commodity analyst at Commonwealth Bank, told Reuters that initial indications of the Omicron strain suggest it may be less dangerous than expected, due Given the lack of high rates of hospital care.
The third dose also indicates promising results with regard to protection against the new strain.
At the same time, however, analysts at financial services firm ANZ confirmed to Reuters that risks to demand have not completely disappeared.
In terms of today's trading, the futures contracts for the benchmark Brent crude for February delivery rose by 0.6% to reach $76.30 a barrel.
The US NYMEX crude contracts for January delivery also rose by 0.8% at the level of $72.90 a barrel.
The data of the US Energy Information Administration revealed earlier yesterday evening, that oil stocks in the United States fell less than expected during the past week.
The data revealed that crude stocks fell 0.2 million barrels for the week ending December 3, while expectations were for a 1.2 million barrel drop.
While US gasoline stocks rose by 3.9 million barrels, distillate stocks rose by 2.7 million barrels.
