Title: Oil steady as supply disruptions offset Omicron fears

Jan 10, 2022 06:50AM ET

By: AnalysisWatch

Oil prices were broadly stable on Monday as supply disruptions in Kazakhstan and Libya offset concerns about the rapid global rise in Omicron infections.

At 1136 GMT, Brent crude was down 13 cents, or 0.2%, at $81.62 a barrel and US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down 17 cents, or 0.2%, at $78.73 a barrel.

Earlier, Bothe's contracts were up about 50 cents.

Oil prices gained 5% last week after protests in Kazakhstan disrupted train services and hit output at the country's main oilfield, Tengiz, while production in Libya fell to 729,000 barrels a day from a peak of 1.3 million barrels a day last year due to pipeline maintenance.

Kazakhstan's largest oil company, Tengizchevroil (TCO), is gradually ramping up production to reach normal rates at the Tengiz field after protests curtailed output in recent days, operator Chevron said on Sunday.

A drop in Azerbaijani crude exports from the Turkish port of Ceyhan has provided some support to prices. According to a schedule seen by Reuters, February exports were set at 14.72 million barrels, down from 17.27 million barrels in January.

Oil prices are also getting support from rising global demand and lower-than-expected output from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+).

OPEC production increased by 70,000 bpd in December compared to the previous month, while the OPEC+ agreement called for a 253,000 bpd increase to restore production cut in 2020 by the COVID-19 agreement's collapse in demand.

Strong demand and a sharp drop in oil stocks have pushed the market structure for Brent and US crude into deep backwardation.