By Gina Lee

Investing.com – Oil was up Thursday morning in Asia, with the U.S. signaling that surged to a record high despite the threat posed by the omicron COVID-19 for fuel demand. Also, the U.S. Federal Reserve has taken steps to combat inflation before the economy recovers. This also helped the black liquid.

By 11PM ET (GMT-4), the stock had risen 0.92% and was at $74.56. It then jumped by 1.11% to $71.66.

Wednesday’s showed a draw of 4.584 million barrels in the week to Dec. 10. Investing.com’s forecasts had foretold a 2.82-million barrel draw. However, a 220-barrel draw occurred during the prior week.

Released the day prior showed a draw at 815,000 barrels

Edward Moya, OANDA’s senior analyst, said that despite the COVID-19 increase, “the weekly EIA oil inventories report showed demand for petroleum products reached a record high. Crude exports rebounded and national crude stocks posted a greater-than-expected draw.”

While the current omicron wave might lead to some restrictions in the U.S.A, lockdowns from the height of the pandemic are unlikely to be reinstated.

Refineries supplied gasoline, diesel and other refined products, which are a measure of demand, saw a rise in product supply to the latest week to 23.2million barrels per daily (bpd). According to analysts, the holiday season may see more people travel and reduce supply-chain bottlenecks. There will be more trucks driving goods on the roads.

Concerns about omicron persist, however, due to record-breaking COVID-19 case rates in the U.K. and South Africa. South Korea is the latest country to relax its restrictive measures. Most firms worldwide are asking workers to work at home which could affect fuel demand.

The Fed also stated it was going to accelerate asset tapering as well as raise interest rates, when it released its Wednesday report. The Fed projects three quarter-point rate increases in 2022 and 2023. It also plans to keep its interest rate at 25 percent.