With the ‘left’ came the crude in December – WTI closed below $ 66

Oil ended the first session of December with losses, which lost its initial profits after the news that the first case of the mutated Omicron strain of the coronavirus was detected in the USA.

The news sparked fears that the new coronavirus mutation could once again disrupt economic activity and consequently oil demand, driving fuel prices lower.

Earlier, oil came under pressure after the Energy Information Administration announced that U.S. crude stockpiles fell less than expected by 900,000 barrels in the week ended Nov. 26.

Analysts’ convergent estimates, however, predicted a larger decline, by 2.7 million barrels, according to a poll by S&P Global Platts.

Also, according to the EIA, stocks of gasoline increased by 4 million barrels and of refined products by 2.2 million barrels, when analysts expected an increase of 900,000 barrels for gasoline and 1 million barrels for refined products.

In this context, and especially after the “hit” of Omicron and the US, the January delivery contract for West Texas Intermediate crude ended Wednesday’s session with a loss of 61 cents or 0.9%, closing at $ 65.57 in New York Mercantile Exchange, which had previously recorded an intra-conference high of $ 69.49, lost 5.4% yesterday.

Brent crude for February delivery, which lost 36 cents, or 0.5 percent, closed the day at $ 68.87 a barrel lower, after falling 5.5 percent. Tuesday.

Investors, meanwhile, are turning their attention to the meeting of OPEC and its allies, namely OPEC +, tomorrow Thursday, to see if the cartel will change its policy so far to increase its production by 400,000 barrels per month. .

Some analysts, moreover, expect that OPEC + will “freeze” its production and hold a wait-and-see attitude until the severity of the impact that the Omicron mutation may have on economic growth and therefore on the oil market is somewhat clarified.