Sharjah24 – Reuters: Oil prices drifted in a narrow range on Friday, on track to their biggest weekly gain since late August, as the easing concerns over the Omicron coronavirus variant on global growth and fuel demand drove market sentiment.
Benchmark Brent and WTI were both on course to rise more than 6% this week, even after a brief profit-taking, their first weekly gain in seven weeks.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 2 cents, or 0.03%, to $70.96 a barrel at 0419 GMT, after sliding 2% in a volatile session the previous day.
Brent crude futures slipped 6 cents to $74.36 a barrel after falling 1.9% on Thursday.
Earlier in the week, the oil market had recovered about half the losses it suffered since the Omicron outbreak on Nov. 25 as early studies suggest getting three doses of Pfizer's PFE.N vaccine offers protection against the Omicron variant.
"Fears of Omicron are subsiding... and appetite for risk is returning," said Howie Lee, an economist from OCBC Bank, adding that as oil was heavily sold off in he last two weeks, there might be bargain hunters attempting to scoop up deals now.
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