Oil prices fell on Monday, with US crude plunging more than a dollar, after airlines called off thousands of flights in the United States over the Christmas holidays amid surging Covid-19 infections.
US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 97 cents, or 1.3%, at $72.82 a barrel after touching a low of $72.71 a barrel earlier in the session, Reuters reported.
It did not trade on Friday because US markets were closed for the holiday.
Brent crude fell 24 cents, or 0.3%, to $75.90 a barrel after settling down 0.92% on Friday.
Both contracts jumped by 3-4% last week after early data suggested that the Omicron variant of Covid-19 may cause a milder level of illness.
However, the highly transmissible variant is causing Covid-19 case numbers to surge across the world.
In the past three days, thousands of passengers have been stranded after US airlines cancelled flights due to Covid-related staff shortages.
"Lower travel equaling lower economic activity in the US equals lower WTI, the US oil benchmark," said OANDA analyst Jeffrey Halley said.
"Though Omicron is spreading faster than any Covid-19 variant yet, a relatively relieving news is that most people infected with Omicron are showing mild symptoms, at least so far," said Leona Liu, analyst at Singapore-based DailyFX.
