Oil prices were steady on Wednesday, with market players on the lookout for fuel demand pointers amid Covid-19 concerns after Singapore suspended quarantine-free travel and Australia renewed its vaccination push due to a surge in Omicron variant cases.
Brent crude futures rose 8 cents, or 0.1%, to $74.06 a barrel after gaining 3.4% in the last session. WTI crude futures rose 24 cents, or 0.3%, to $71.36 a barrel after jumping 3.7% on Tuesday, Reuters reported.
"The bias is positive over optimistic updates from vaccine maker Moderna ... However, the upside looks limited as investors seem to be exercising caution over Omicron-related restrictions," said Ajay Kedia, director at Kedia Commodities in Mumbai.
Moderna Chief Executive Stephane Bancel said on Tuesday that the vaccine manufacturer does not expect any problems in developing a booster shot to protect against the Omicron variant and could begin work in a few weeks.
In another bullish indicator, industry data showed that US crude inventories last week registered a larger-than-expected decline.
American Petroleum Institute data showed US crude stocks fell 3.7 million barrels for the week ended Dec. 17, according to market sources.
