By Gina Lee

Investing.com – Oil was down Friday morning in Asia, but was set to . There are increasing concerns that fuel demand could be affected by the spreading of the COVID-19 omicron variant.

The broad commodities market also received support from a weaker country.

At 10:54 ET, the price of $74.44 fell to $74.44 (03:54 GMT), and it fell to $71.78 by 0.83%.

Look at the situation with Omicron. That’s a negative that people try to digest. Will we be subject to new restrictions? “That’s what market is trying to figure out,” Vivek Dhar, a commodities analyst at Commonwealth Bank told Reuters.

In the U.K. and South Africa, there has been an increase in the number of omicron-related cases every day. Mette Frederiksen (Danish Prime Minister) warned that further restrictions may be imposed by the government to restrict the spread.

However, some businesses decided to delay plans to reopen office due to the increased spread of Omicron in America.

Craig Erlam from OANDA stated that crude continues to suffer significant headwinds due to the Omicron version. He also noted that the demand outlook for the first half of next year has taken a hit. “The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries plus (OPEC+) is ready to step in should the situation call for it, and will remain to support prices for the moment,” Craig Erlam wrote in a note.

The cartel indicated earlier this month it might meet before its Jan. 4 meeting if fuel demand changes require that its plans to increase supply by 400,000 barrels daily in January 2020 be reviewed.