After a week dominated by the Omicron variant, we hear from Samuel Indyk, Senior Analyst at uk.Investing.com on what to watch in oil and gas markets.
Q. What were some market expectations that actually occurred during the past week?
"The energy complex is continuing to react to headlines regarding the Omicron COVID variant. Crude dipped on Monday amid fears that the rapidly spreading variant would dampen oil demand, particularly in the first quarter of next year. However, numerous studies released later in the week all agreed that the severity of illness from Omicron appears to be lower the other variants and there is now greater optimism that Omicron won’t bring the globe to a standstill as the initial strain did in March 2020."
Q. What were some market surprises?
"The lack of progress in the Vienna talks between Iran and world powers to revive the nuclear deal is somewhat surprising. It may have been expected that with Donald Trump out of the picture, the two parties would be able to solve issues quickly, but the two sides are still at odds and a return of Iranian crude exports still looks a long way off. The US appears to be losing patience with Iran with National Security Adviser saying that a deadline to revive the deal will be set “in a few weeks”.
Q. What developments/trends will you be on the lookout for next week?
"It will likely be quiet in between Christmas and New Year but the nuclear discussions are set to resume on Monday. I’ll be looking out for progress on the discussions or whether the two sides remain far apart. Separately, I’ll be keeping an eye on COVID cases and hospitalizations and whether it appears countries will add new international travel restrictions or local measures to contain the spread."