(Bloomberg). — Oil prices rose following Saudi Arabia’s increase in crude oil, signaling confidence and demand prospects despite the widespread spread of the coronavirus omicron.

New York futures advanced by 2%, trading at near $68 per barrel. Just days after the OPEC+ alliance announced that it would increase output in January, the kingdom raised its oil prices to customers in Asia. Meanwhile, initial data on omicron from South Africa — the epicenter of the outbreak — doesn’t show a resulting surge of hospitalizations.

After concerns regarding the outlook for oil demand and omicron, Friday’s sixth week of weekly losses was the longest since 2018, when oil closed its doors. OPEC+ insisted on adding more barrels to market in January but the alliance essentially set a price floor by allowing it to modify the plan as needed.

Saudi Aramco The state-producer stated that it raised the price of its Arab Light grade, which is used by customers in Asia, 60 cents to $3.30 per barrel from December. This was over a benchmark. That followed comments last week from Aramco Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser that he was “very optimistic” about demand and that the market had overreacted to omicron.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.