Concerns Over New COVID Variant Plunges Brent Crude Oil Below $80 a Barrel

Concerns over rising new COVID variant in South Africa, Asia and other regions weighed on Brent crude oil and other financial assets on Friday.

The heavily mutated COVID variant called B.1.1.529 plunged Brent crude oil, against which Nigerian crude oil is priced, by almost 4 percent on Friday to trade below $80 a barrel for the first in months.

Brent crude dropped $3.16 or 3.8 percent to $79.06 per barrel while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) sheds $3.45 or 4.4 percent to $74.94 a barrel.

“Oil prices have gapped lower in Asia as the South African variant sparks’ growth fears, sending a wave of selling through Asian energy markets. Although gas and coal prices are holding steady, oil prices have tumbled,” stated Jeffrey Halley, Senior Market Analyst, Asia Pacific, OANDA.

Commodity prices dropped after the United Kingdom announced it has halted all flights from six South African nations. In Hong Kong, two cases of the new variant were detected on Friday.

“With US markets closed for holidays, investors are voting with their feet this morning. The one bull in the China shop that could truly derail the global recovery has always been a new strain of Covid-19 that swept the world and caused the reimposition of mass social retractions.”

This was coming two days after U.S President Joe Biden announced his administration plans to release millions of barrels of oil from strategic reserves to cool rising crude oil prices and rein in fuel price in the world’s largest economy.

Global financial markets experts are worried that the new variant will slow down global growth and force economies to start shutting down following the U.K announcement on Thursday.

Today, investors across the world will be paying attention to the outcome of meeting between WHO and South African officials, and the evolution of the B.1.1.529 variant. This will dictate market reaction for next week.