(London) Oil prices fell slightly on Thursday in the face of the risk of new sanitary measures taken across the world, undermining demand for black gold, the movement of prices remaining however moderate.
At around 5:50 a.m., the price of a barrel of Brent North Sea for February delivery fell 0.44% to $ 75.49.
In New York, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for the month of January fell 0.26% to 72.17 dollars.
The spread of the Omicron variant worries investors, who are wondering if further movement restriction measures could weigh on demand for black gold.
In the UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday asked employees to work from home “if possible”, and the vaccination passport is being introduced for the first time in England, in nightclubs and in all venues. more than 10,000 people.
“The UK’s decision seems to indicate what to expect in the coming weeks” in the rest of the world, said Chris Beauchamp, analyst at IG.
Meanwhile, commercial reserves of US crude fell less than the market expected last week, according to a report released Wednesday by the US Energy Information Agency (EIA).
However, crude prices remained down very moderately, barely starting their marked rise over the last three sessions.
The WHO boss stressed on Wednesday that while the Omicron variant of the coronavirus appears to have a higher rate of reinfection, it causes less severe symptoms than the Delta variant.
“A complete freeze of economic activity as in 2020 seems out of the question, even if restrictions, even very limited, logically weaken the enthusiasm of the market”, judge Tamas Varga, analyst at PVM.