WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil futures settled sharply higher on Tuesday as prices rebounded from losses in the previous two sessions.
An announcement from Moderna Inc. that a booster dose of its Covid-19 vaccine appeared to be protective against the Omicron variant in laboratory testing contributed to the uptick in oil prices.
However, Covid-19 worries persisted, with investors awaiting U.S. President Joe Biden's announcement on new steps he is taking to fight the Omicron variant.
There is now consistent evidence that Omicron is spreading significantly faster than the Delta variant, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
Omicron accounted for 73% of new infections in the U.S. last week, a nearly six-fold increase in only seven days.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended up by $2.51 or about 3.7% at $71.12 a barrel. WTI crude futures had shed about 2% and 3.7%, respectively on Friday and Monday.
Brent crude futures were up $2.64 or 3.68% at $74.16 a barrel a little while ago.
Traders looked ahead to weekly crude oil reports from the American Petroleum Institute (API) and U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The API's report is due later in the day, while EIA is scheduled to release its inventory data Wednesday morning.
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