Shafaq News / Oil prices climbed on Tuesday, extending a rebound from last week's plunge on growing expectations major producers would pause plans to add crude supply in January amid uncertainty over the severity of the Omicron coronavirus variant.

Brent crude futures climbed 43 cents, or 0.6%, to $73.91 a barrel at 0418GMT after gaining 1% on Monday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures jumped 73 cents, or 1%, to $70.68 a barrel, adding to a 2.6% rise on Monday.

Oil plunged around 12% on Friday along with other markets on fears the heavily mutated Omicron would spark fresh lockdowns and dent global growth.

The World Health Organization said on Monday Omicron posed a very high risk of infection surges, and several countries stepped up travel curbs. It is still unclear how severe the new variant is and whether it can resist existing vaccines.

With the demand outlook under a cloud, expectations are growing that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting countries, Russia and their allies, together called OPEC+, will put on hold plans to add 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) of supply in January.

Pressure was already growing within OPEC+, due to meet on Dec. 2, to reconsider its supply plan after last week's release of emergency crude reserves by the United States and other major oil-consuming nations to address soaring prices.

Source: Reuters