INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Global oil prices are expected to rise further next year as jet fuel demand catches up.Oil prices fell on Friday but were set to post their
biggest annual gains since at least 2016, spurred by the global economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic slump and producer restraint,
even as infections reached record highs worldwide.Brent crude futures settled down $1.75, or 2.2 per cent, at $77.78 a barrel
United States West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures dropped $1.78, or 2.31 per cent, to $75.21 a barrel.Brent ended the year up 50.5
per cent, its biggest gain since 2016, while WTI posted a 55.5 per cent gain, the strongest performance for the benchmark contract since
2009, when prices soared more than 70 per cent.Both contracts touched their 2021 peak in October, with Brent at $86.70 a barrel, the highest
since 2018, and WTI at $85.41 a barrel, the highest since 2014."This year was a story of global recovery for petroleum products," said John
Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital Management in New York."The oil market continues to be highly reactive to developments on the pandemic
front - we're not out of the woods yet, but we are close to pre-pandemic demand levels." Global oil prices are expected to rise further next
year as jet fuel demand catches up."We've had Delta and Omicron and all manner of lockdowns and travel restrictions, but demand for oil has
remained relatively firm," said Australian brokerage firm CommSec's Chief Economist Craig James."You can attribute that to the effects of
stimulus supporting demand and restrictions on supply." However, after rising for several straight days, oil prices stalled on Friday as
COVID-19 cases soared to new pandemic highs across the globe, from Australia to the United States, stoked by the highly transmissible
Omicron coronavirus variant.United States health experts warned Americans to prepare for severe disruptions in coming weeks, with infection
rates likely to worsen amid increased holiday travel, New Year celebrations and school reopenings following winter breaks.A Reuters survey
of 35 economists and analysts forecast Brent crude would average $73.57 a barrel in 2022, about two per cent lower than the $75.33 consensus
in November.It is the first reduction in the 2022 price forecast since the August poll
Easing production outages in Nigeria and Ecuador weighed on prices earlier this week.With oil hovering near $80, the Organization of the
Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and allies - together called OPEC+ - will probably stick to their plan to add 400,000 barrels per day
of supply in February when they meet on Jan
4, four sources said.Oil prices head for biggest yearly gains since 2009Photo Credit: Reuters(This story has not been edited by
TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
