Crude Oil Latest: Travel Restrictions, Omicron vaccine, OPEC +
Crude Oil’s Black Friday sale
Friday saw the largest single day drop in crude oil since 2020, dropping over 10%, as fears of the new coronavirus variant ‘Omicron’ filtered through to the oil market amid lockdown concerns and freshly issued travel restrictions. For more, see the full report[3] by Warren Venketas[4].
Quite a lot has transpired since then. Numerous countries have detected Omicron cases (UK, parts of southern Africa, Australia, Belgium & Netherlands to name a few) with the World Health Organisation (WHO) cautioning that understanding the variant’s severity could take weeks. Dr Angelique Coetzee, a South African doctor, noticed differing symptoms in patients when she suspected a new variant. Since then, early observations of patients infected with the new variant have experienced “very, very mild symptoms” being able to treat patients “conservatively at home”.
In pre-market trade Moderna rises around 11% as its chief medical officer Paul Burton mentioned that a Omicron-specific jab could be ready by early 2022 in the event that current vaccines are shown to ineffective against the new strain.
OPEC+ Monitoring Committee to Assess Omicron Effect
OPEC’s Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) was originally scheduled to meet on the 30th of November but agreed to move this to December the 2nd - the same day the as the main OPEC+ ministerial meeting – to acquire more information about Omicron and its potential effects on oil demand.
OPEC had already factored in an increase in oil stocks
