International oil prices rose by more than 4%, and the momentum for the future rise will gradually weaken

Due to the easing of market concerns about the Omicron strain of the new crown variant virus and Saudi Arabia's increase in crude oil prices, international oil prices rose sharply on December 6, both by more than 4%.

Light crude futures for January 2022 delivery rose $3.
23, or 4.
87%, to settle at $69.
49 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange as of the close on December 6; London Brent crude futures for February 2022 delivery rose $3.
20, or 4.
58%, to settle at $73.
08 a barrel
.

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on the 5th that so far, there are some positive signals about the severity of Omicron, and the symptoms after infection do not look very serious, but you need to be very careful
before making conclusions.
Fauci said the Biden administration is already considering lifting travel restrictions
on people from several African countries entering the United States.

In addition, it is reported that Saudi Arabia raised the official selling price of crude oil sold to Asia and the United States in January next year by $0.
8 per barrel
on the 5th.

Saudi Arabia's decision to raise the price of crude oil in January shows that it expects global oil demand to remain high next year
.
This, along with news of the deadlock in negotiations on Iran's nuclear issue
, provided support to oil prices.
However, uncertainty about the impact of the Omicron strain on economic activity will limit oil price gains
.
The United States announced the release of strategic crude reserves late last month to help curb rising oil prices
.
Senior U.
S.
government officials have signaled to producers that the U.
S.
could release more crude reserves
if needed.

In addition, for more than a year, ultra-loose monetary policy in the United States has led to a weakening of the dollar and a rise in the price of oil in dollar terms
.
As the Fed says it may accelerate monetary policy tightening, the momentum for this upward movement in oil prices will gradually weaken.

Due to the disruption of the Omicron strain, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) recent production policy has placed greater emphasis on flexibility in response actions to help keep the market stable
.
Some analysts pointed out that because the bearish news related to the Omicron strain will cause OPEC to tighten crude oil supply, the downward pressure on oil prices is limited
.

Austria's JBC Energy said OPEC and its partners' decision to continue to increase crude oil production in January next year may seem anomalous, but it has little impact on crude oil supply
.
It is likely that many producers will face technical constraints in increasing production, and the compliance rate of OPEC and partner countries from December to March is expected to further increase from 108% this year to 115%.

JBC Energy cut its global average oil demand forecast for December and January by about 300,000 barrels
per day.