Sharjah24 – Reuters: Oil prices rose on Monday, with Brent futures touching their highest in more than three years, as investors bet supply will remain tight amid restrained output by major producers with global demand unperturbed by the Omicron coronavirus variant.
Brent crude futures gained 40 cents, or 0.5%, to $86.46 a barrel by 0641 GMT. Earlier in the session, the contract touched its highest since Oct. 3, 2018 at $86.71.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 58 cents, or 0.7%, at $84.40 a barrel, after hitting $84.78, the highest since Nov. 10, 2021, earlier in the session.
The gains followed a rally last week when Brent rose more than 5% and WTI climbed over 6%.
Frantic oil buying, driven by supply outages and signs the Omicron variant will not be as disruptive as feared for fuel demand, has pushed some crude grades to multi-year highs, suggesting the rally in Brent futures could be sustained a while longer, traders said.
"The bullish sentiment is continuing as (producer group) OPEC+ is not providing enough supply to meet strong global demand," said Toshitaka Tazawa, an analyst at Fujitomi Securities Co Ltd.
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