Crude oil futures ended higher with rally of over three and half percent on Tuesday. Hopes that the spread of the Omicron variant will not derail the global economy and adversely impact energy demand supported oil prices. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that he expects the economic impact of the new variant to be short-lived and that upcoming quarters may be positive for the economy. Meanwhile, the recent outages in Libya and a weak U.S. dollar also contributed to the increase in oil prices.
Benchmark crude oil futures for February delivery rose $2.99 or 3.8 percent to settle at $81.22 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for March delivery gained $2.96 or 3.7 percent to settle at $83.83 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.