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Brent and West Texas Intermediate international benchmarks have fallen sharply since early December.
Oil prices fell more than 4 percent on Monday as the proliferation of Omicron coronavirus species in Europe and the United States led investors to worry that new anti-proliferation bans could undermine oil demand.
Brent crude futures were down $ 2.93, or 4 percent, at $ 70.59 a barrel at 12:58 pm EST, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude future dropped $ 3.31, or 4.7 percent, to $ 67.55 a barrel.
Both benchmarks fell sharply from the beginning of December.
“This is a major factor in the spread of the virus and the fear that seizures could spread rapidly,” said Andrew Lipow of Lipow Oil Associates in Houston.
The Netherlands closed on Sunday and the possibility of more COVID-19 bans being imposed on the Christmas and New Year holidays before a number of European countries.
U.S. health officials urged Americans on Sunday to receive an extra shot of COVID-19, to wear masks and be careful if they were on a winter vacation, Omicron diversity is happening around the world and is starting to take over as a major problem in the United States.
Oil prices dropped even though Moderna Inc announced Monday that an increased dose of COVID-19 vaccine appears to be safe from Omicron in laboratory testing.
Meanwhile, OPEC +’s lead in reducing oil production fell by 117 percent in November, up 1 percent from last month, two sources told Reuters, as the results continued to disagree on goals.
In the United States, the electronics industry added oil and gas equipment for the second week in a row.
Oil and gas prices, which indicate futures, rose by three to 579 a week until December 17, which represents the highest since April 2020, Baker Hughes Co electricity company said in a follow-up report on Friday.
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