Oil pares gains, but ends higher after Friday slump amid new variant fear

Oil pared gains late on Monday, but finished the session higher as investors viewed Friday’s slump in oil and financial markets as overdone absent more data on the Omicron coronavirus variant.

Brent briefly surged above $77 a barrel, while U.S. crude touched highs above $72. However, both contracts gave up gains late in the session.

Brent crude futures settled at $73.44 a barrel, up 72 cents or 1%, having slid by $9.50 on Friday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude settled up $1.80, or 2.6% at $69.95 a barrel. The contract tumbled $10.24 in the previous session.

In post-settlement trade, Brent briefly turned into negative territory on thin volumes.