The price of Brent crude oil rose to $77

According to the offshore engineering website on December 27, the price of crude oil in the United States rose to $77 on Monday due to the impact of the new crown epidemic, in the hope that the Omicron variant will have a limited impact
on global demand in 2022.

On Sunday, American Airlines canceled more than 1,300 flights as the pandemic reduced the number of available crew and several cruise ships had to cancel flights
.

At 15:05 GMT, global benchmark Brent crude rose 76 cents (1%) to $
76.
90.
U.
S.
West Texas Intermediate crude fell 22 cents (0.
3%) to $
73.
57.
The U.
S
.
stock market is closed on Friday for the holiday.

Jeffrey Halley, an analyst at brokerage OANDA, said: "Less travel in the U.
S.
equals less economic activity, leading to lower
WTI prices.
The difference between Brent and WTI may reflect that the global recovery is still ongoing
.
”

Jeffrey Halley said of the rising Omicron cases: "The disruption of goods and services by quarantined workers, especially air travel, seems to have been the main impact so far, but this is only likely to cause short-term tension, and the global recovery in 2022 is still ongoing
.
”

Brent crude is up more than
45 percent this year, supported by OPEC+ demand recovery and supply cuts.

Oil prices, which plunged more than 10 percent when the first new variant was reported Nov.
26, rose last week after early data suggested Omicron could cause milder disease
.

Leona Liu, an analyst at Singapore-based DailyFX, said: "Omicron is spreading faster than the common new coronavirus variant, but the relatively good news is that most patients infected with Omicron have at least mild
symptoms so far.
”

Another issue investors are concerned about is the next OPEC meeting on Jan.
4, at which the coalition of producers will decide whether to make a planned 400,000-bpd increase in production
in February.

Despite the impact of Omicron, OPEC stuck to its January production increase plan
at its last meeting.