- Oil prices slid Thursday morning after three days of gains as investors weigh continued uncertainty surrounding the Omicron variant and its impact to fuel demand
- Lab studies by Pfizer and BioNTech show a third dose of their vaccine can neutralize Omicron
- Bloomberg reported that a study showed the Omicron variant is 4.2 times more transmissible than the delta variant in its early stages, based on data from South Africa’s Gauteng province
- The EIA reported a draw of 241 MBbl in U.S. crude oil inventories for the week ended 12/3
- Analysts were expecting a larger 1.16 draw, and the API forecast a 3.08 MMBbl withdrawal when it reported on Tuesday
- The build in Cushing stocks took the headlines as the storage hub rose 2.3 MMBbl, pushing Cushing inventories above 30 MMBbl
- Earlier this year, inventory levels seemed to be on pace to slide toward what many in the market considered the minimum level needed to maintain operation (Bloomberg)