Tokyo (agencies)

Brent crude fell yesterday after a three-day rally in weak trade during the Christmas holidays, but crude is still recording weekly gains, while the market is focused on the next steps of the OPEC + group and the impact of Pivot Omicron.
At 0741 GMT, Brent crude was down 41 cents or 0.5 percent at $ 76.44 a barrel, after rising 2.1 percent in the previous session. Crude oil is still expected to register an increase of about four percent on a weekly basis.
Preliminary data indicate that oil prices rose again this week as concerns over the impact of the highly contagious strain of Omigran on the world economy eased.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies OPEC + Confederation meet on January 4.
According to Ciuqi Chen, chief analyst at Sunward Trading, the group is likely to pursue its decision to increase oil supplies to 400,000 barrels a day at its next meeting, until oil prices hover above $ 70 a barrel. But some investors are wary of the increased infection with the Omigron mutant. Corona virus infections have increased significantly in degenerative areas, prompting many countries to impose new restrictions, including Italy and Greece, while monitoring the record number of new infections. On the other hand, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak announced yesterday that his country expects to produce 540 million to 550 million tons of oil by 2022.
“We expect production to increase by 2.1 per cent or about 524 million tonnes by the end of 2021,” Novak told Rosia 24 Channel.
Novak added that, as expected, demand will continue to recover.
“As for Russia, we expect demand to reach pre-deflation levels in March,” he explained.
“The oil sector in Russia will produce approximately 550-540 million tons next year,” Novak pointed out.
Novak forecasts oil price stabilization next year at $ 75 a barrel.
Oil prices rose again this week as concerns about the impact of Omicron, the world’s most contagious strain, eased.