Oil Rises as Concerns Over Omicron Ease

Oil prices rose on Tuesday after rising 5 percent in the previous session as concerns eased about the impact of the mutated Omicron strain of the Coronavirus on global fuel demand, while nuclear talks with Iran faltered, delaying the return of Iranian crude supplies to the market.

Brent crude futures rose 60 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $73.68 a barrel.

US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 74 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $70.23 a barrel, after rising 4.9 in the previous session.

Oil prices fell last week, amid fears that available vaccines would be less effective in resisting the new mutant, Omicron, which raised fears that governments would resort to re-imposing restrictions to limit its spread, which could harm global growth and demand for oil.