Crude oil futures ended sharply higher on Thursday, extending their previous session’s gains, supported by record US implied demand and dropping crude stockpiles, even as the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant threatens to put a brake on consumption globally. Demand has been rising in 2021 after last year’s collapse, and the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said product supplied by refineries, a proxy for demand, surged in the latest week to 23.2 million barrels per day (bpd). Further, the dollar's weakness against other major currencies amid easing uncertainty about tapering of the asset-purchase program and interest rate hikes contributed as well to oil's uptick.
Benchmark crude oil futures for January delivery rose $1.51 or about 2.1 percent to settle at $72.38 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for February delivery gained $0.80 or 1.1 percent to settle at $74.68 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.