Oil struggles to hold gains amid mixed demand view

Oil prices slipped on Thursday, trimming big gains from the previous two sessions, amid uncertainty over near-term demand as cases of the highly contagious Omicron variant of the coronavirus surge around the globe.

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U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures slipped 7 cents, or 0.1%, to $82.57 a barrel at 0221 GMT, after climbing 1.7% in the previous session.

Brent crude futures shed 6 cents, or 0.1%, to $84.61 a barrel, after rising 1.3% on Wednesday. Analysts say “Gasoline demand was weaker-than-expected and still below pre-pandemic levels as oil won’t be able to continue to push higher.

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However, the weekly Agency’s report was less bullish than the headline number, as total crude oil inventories fell 4.8 million barrels but were more than offset by a stock build across refined products,” Citi said in a note.

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