Oil edges higher on waning fears of Omicron variant’s effects

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Oil prices ended higher in a back-and-forth session on Wednesday, maintaining a positive tone as investors no longer expect the Omicron coronavirus variant to derail global economic growth.

Brent crude futures settled at $75.82, up 38 cents, or 0.5%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude ended at $72.36 a barrel, up 31 cents or 0.4%.

Global benchmark Brent has rebounded by about 10% since Dec. 1 on the expectation that Omicron will have only a limited impact on oil demand, after a 16% drop since Nov. 25. Early studies suggest two shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech shot may protect only partially against Omicron, but a third dose