WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil prices climbed higher on Tuesday, lifting the most active crude futures contracts to their highest settlement in about two months.
Hopes that the spread of the Omicron variant will not derail the global economy and any adversely impact energy demand supported oil prices.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said today that he expects the economic impact of the new variant to be short-lived and that the upcoming quarters may be positive for the economy.
The recent outages in Libya, and a weak U.S. dollar also contributed to the rise in oil prices.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for February ended up by $2.99 or about 3.8% at $81.22 a barrel, the highest settlement since November 11, 2021.
Brent crude futures are up $2.96 or 3.7% at $83.83 a barrel.
Traders now await the weekly inventory reports from the American Petroleum Institute (API) and U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The API's report is due later today, while the EIA will release its inventory data Wednesday morning.
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