WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil prices climbed higher on Thursday, lifted by reports about rising unrest in Kazakhstan and supply outages in Libya.
Hopes that the Omicron variant of the coronavirus will not significantly impact global oil demand contributed as well to the uptick in prices.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended higher by $1.61 or about 2.1% at $79.46 a barrel.
Brent crude futures were up $1.2 or 1.5% at $82.00 a barrel.
Russia has reportedly sent its paratroopers into Kazakhstan to help control a countrywide uprising that erupted after widespread violence.
Kazakhstan produces about 1.6 million barrels of oil per day. However, there are no indications that oil production has been hit so far.
Meanwhile, disruptions due to pipeline maintenance work and oilfield shutdowns, oil output has dropped by over 500,000 barrels per day in Libya.
On Wednesday, a report from the Energy Information Administration showed U.S. crude inventories fell for a sixth straight week, dropping by 2.1 million barrels for the week ended December 31. The drop, however, was less than an expected decrease of about 3.3 million barrels.
The EIA also said gasoline inventories spiked by 10.1 million barrels, while distillate fuel inventories increased by 4.4 million barrels.
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