WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Oil prices were little changed on Monday after rising sharply last week on optimism that the new coronavirus's impact will be limited on global fuel demand.
Benchmark Brent crude futures were little changed at $75.17 a barrel in European trade, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 0.1 percent at $71.62 a barrel.
Both benchmarks jumped around 8 percent last week, marking their first weekly gain in seven.
The overall risk related to the new variant of concern Omicron remains very high for a number of reasons, the World Health Organization said in a technical brief issued on Sunday, referring to the virus' potential ability to evade immunity provided by antibodies.
The Omicron coronavirus variant has been detected in more than 60 countries so far. Oxford University said vaccines showed to induce lower levels of protection against Omicron.
Iraq's oil minister said on Sunday he expected the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) at its next meeting to maintain its current policy of gradual monthly increases in supply by 400,000 bpd.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Energy said on Friday it will sell 18 million barrels of crude oil from its strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) on Dec. 17, as part of a previous plan to try to reduce gasoline prices.
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