(London) Oil prices were on a small rise on Wednesday, following a strong rebound at the start of the week fueled by weakening fears around the Omicron variant on upcoming demand for black gold.
At around 5:30 a.m., the price of a barrel of North Sea Brent for February delivery rose 0.23% to $ 75.61.
In New York, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for the month of January was 0.14% to 72.15 dollars.
“Oil is catching its breath after two strong sessions on the rise,” notes Victoria Scholar, analyst at Interactive Investor.
Reference prices have risen by nearly 10% since the first exchanges on Monday thanks to a lowering of the supposed risk of the Omicron strain.
The new variant of COVID-19 does not appear to be more dangerous than the Delta and the vaccines would be effective a priori, scientists from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the House told AFP. -White.
“Investors rule out the worst-case scenario,” said Mme Scholar, made a return of confinements synonymous with falling demand for black gold, “which leads to a rebound in best-selling assets” just after the announcement on November 25 of the detection of Omicron in South Africa.
Investors are also watching the state of stocks in the United States.
The American Petroleum Institute (API), the federation that brings together professionals in the petroleum sector in the country, reported Tuesday a decline in commercial crude reserves of 3.1 million barrels last week.
The US Energy Information Agency (EIA), estimates deemed more reliable, will publish its own figures on Wednesday.
The market expects a decline, of the order of 1.5 million barrels, according to the median of analysts polled by the Bloomberg agency.
“An even larger drop could further support crude prices,” comments Ipek Ozkardeskaya of Swissquote Bank.