U.S. oil futures rise over 3% to top $80, buoyed by fading omicron worries, and tight supplies

Market Watch ^ | Jan. 11, 2022 at 11:29 a.m. ET | Myra P. Saefong and William Watts

[Hojczyk]

Oil futures rose Tuesday and U.S. prices traded above $80 a barrel, supported by tight supplies and growing expectations that the omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus won’t derail global demand.

The market theme is “about demand recovery rather than supply concerns, although both are supportive of oil prices,” Manish Raj, chief financial officer at Velandera Energy Partners, told MarketWatch. Despite omicron’s spread, “global oil demand remains robust among all modes of transportation.”

West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery CL00, 3.73% CLG22, 3.72% rose $2.56, or 3.3%, at $80.79 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Front-month contract prices haven’t settled above $80 since Nov. 16, FactSet data show

March Brent crude BRN00, 3.26% BRNH22, 3.26%, the global benchmark, rose $2.27, or 2.8%, to $83.14 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. A settlement around that level would be highest since Nov. 11.

WTI and Brent have both rallied more than 5% so far in 2022.

Among the petroleum products, February gasoline RBG22, 3.16% rose 1.8% to $2.315 a gallon and February heating oil HOG22, 2.30% added 1.2% to $2.518 a gallon.

[frank ballenger]

There’s nothing the voters like more than rapidly increasing cost of gas at the pumps.

Bare store shelves of overpriced staples is a close second.

So good in an election year.