Brent, WTI Prices Ease

Oil prices eased on Wednesday, taking a breather after two days of gains, as investors waited for an assessment of the full impact of the Omicron coronavirus variant on the global economy and fuel demand as well as the effectiveness of existing vaccines.
Brent crude futures dropped 19 cents, or 0.3%, to $75.25 a barrel, after settling 3.2% higher on Tuesday. US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $71.82 a barrel, down 23 cents, or 0.3%, having gained 3.7% in the previous session, Money.usnews.com reported.
Oil prices rebounded earlier this week from a collapse last week on rising optimism that the new Omicron variant will not cause major economic damage.
"The recovery run took a break as investors tried to confirm the full impact of the Omicron variant before buying further," said Satoru Yoshida, a commodity analyst with Rakuten Securities.
The Omicron variant can partially evade the protection from two doses of Pfizer and partner BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccine, the research head of a laboratory at the Africa Health Research Institute in South Africa said on Tuesday.
British drugmaker GSK, meanwhile, said on Tuesday its antibody-based Covid-19 therapy with US partner Vir Biotechnology is effective against all mutations of the Omicron variant.