Saudis increase oil price
Signal of confidence in demand

The price of oil rose after Saudi Arabia pushed up the price of its crude oil, signaling confidence in the demand outlook despite the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
New York futures were up 2%, trading at $ 68 a barrel. The kingdom increased its oil prices for customers in Asia and the US for January, just days after the OPEC + alliance agreed to increase production for the same month. Initial data on Omicron from South Africa - the epicenter of the outbreak - meanwhile show no increase in hospital admissions.
Oil prices posted their sixth weekly loss, the longest drop since 2018, on Friday after concerns about the outlook for energy demand emerged and Omicron imposed renewed travel restrictions. While OPEC + decided in January to keep adding additional barrels to the market, the alliance essentially put a floor below prices by giving itself the option to change the plan at short notice.
Saudi Aramco (SE: 2222) raised the price of its key variety Arab Light for customers in Asia by 60 cents compared to December to $ 3.30 per barrel above the reference price, according to the state producer. It did so after Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said last week that he was "very optimistic" about demand and that the market had overreacted to Omicron.





