Oil prices settled more than 1% higher on Thursday, after a see-saw session that saw benchmarks swing in a $5 range after Opec+ surprised markets by sticking to its plans to boost output slowly.
Brent crude futures settled up 80 cents, or 1.2%, at $69.67 a barrel after touching a low of $65.72 on the day, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 93 cents, or 1.4%, to $66.50, after dipping as low as $62.43.
The market sold off dramatically after Opec+ issued a bit of a surprise by sticking to plans to boost output monthly by 400,000 barrels per day.
It was the latest in a series of events that have caused crude to slump wildly, having lost 24% in the last three weeks.
Oil futures rebuilt the rally by the end of the day, but the combination of uncertainty around the Omicron variant, efforts by governments to stem the tide of new infections and expectations for more supply kept traders on their toes.
“The markets have just been trying to digest so much news,” said Rebecca Babin, senior energy trader at CIBC Private Wealth US. “It’s like a python eating a pony.”
This makes me somewhat upset. Im not calling you out though, I think it is everyone else out there that isnt taking notice.