Oil Slips 1% on Growth Prospects

Oil prices fell for a third day straight on Wednesday on expectations that supply growth will outpace demand growth next year, even though the Omicron coronavirus variant is not seen curbing mobility as sharply as earlier Covid-19 variants.
WTI crude futures fell $1.05, or 1.5%, to $69.68 a barrel, after losing 56 cents in the previous session, Reuters reported.
Brent crude futures fell 91 cents, or 1.2%, to $72.79 a barrel, after losing 69 cents on Tuesday.
Brent's prompt monthly spread was unchanged at 7 cents after flipping into contango (where the spot or cash price of a commodity is lower than the forward price) briefly on Tuesday.
The International Energy Agency on Tuesday said a surge in Covid-19 cases with the emergence of the Omicron variant will dent global demand for oil as crude output is set to increase, especially in the United States, with supply set to exceed demand through at least the end of next year. 
In contrast, OPEC on Monday raised its world oil demand forecast for the first quarter of 2022.
"The IEA's bearish view on the market was in stark contrast to OPEC's more positive view when it released its monthly outlook earlier this week. The divide suggests volatility is likely to remain high in the short term," ANZ commodity analysts said in a note.