kyiv.Ukraine.Ukraine Gate – November 30,2021- Oil prices fell on Tuesday, November 30, after a statement from the president of the drug company Moderna about the questionable efficacy of the anti-coronavirus vaccine against the COVID Omicron strain, as well as the willingness of the United States to attract more shares if necessary.
The price of a barrel of Brent January oil as of 9:15 Kyiv time reached $ 71.13 (-2.85%). A barrel of January WTI oil traded at $ 68.13 (-2.6%). Preliminary bidding for the standards ended at $ 73.44 and $ 69.95, respectively. January futures for Brent expire on Tuesday.
The head of the pharmaceutical company Moderna told the Financial Times that vaccines from COVID-19 are unlikely to be as effective against the Omicron strain as against the Delta variant.
The World Health Organization said the day before that Omicron hides the extremely high risks of a new pandemic outbreak. As a result, several countries have tightened travel restrictions. It is unclear how serious the new option will be and whether it will be able to counteract the current vaccines.
At the same time, Amos Hochstein, the US State Department’s energy security adviser, told CNBC on Monday that Washington was ready to use even more oil reserves from strategic reserves if necessary to influence market prices.
Hochstein said that of the 50 million barrels of oil, the decision to release which was announced by the United States last week, 30 million will later return to the reserve.
Due to the illusory prospects of demand, expectations are growing that OPEC + will suspend plans to increase supply by 400 thousand barrels per day (bpd) in January.
“Following the global release of strategic reserves and the announcement that dozens of countries are restricting travel to South Africa and neighboring countries, OPEC and the cartel’s allies can easily justify a halt in production or even a slight reduction,” said OANDA analyst Edward Moya.
Last Friday, oil fell about 12% along with other markets due to concerns that the mutated strain of Omicron will cause new quarantine restrictions and undermine the growth of the world economy. This will affect the demand for crude oil.
