Oil prices above $80 a barrel after Opec+ output target hike

Oil prices extended gains on 5 January 2021, rising towards $81 a barrel after Opec+ producers stuck to an agreed output target rise for February and investors assessed the impact of a spike in Covid-19 cases caused by the Omicron variant.

Brent crude futures were up 65 cents, or 0.81 percent, to $80.32 a barrel by 1317 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 56 cents, or 0.73 percent, to $77.55.Opec+ producers, which include members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries along with Russia and others, on 4 January 2021 agreed to add another 400,000 barrels per day of supply in February, as they have done each month since August. The United States reported nearly 1 million new coronavirus infections on Monday, the highest daily tally of any country in the world and nearly double the previous US peak set a week earlier.

Source: Business Standard