Oil prices rise to highest level in a month as Omicron concern eases

US airlines cancel more than 1,000 flights on Sunday; British minister says no new Covid curbs for England in 2021

Oil prices rose more than 2% on Monday to the highest level since late November on hopes that the Omicron coronavirus variant will have a limited impact on global demand in 2022, even as surging cases caused flight cancellations.

Global benchmark Brent crude rose $2.46, or 3.2%, to settle at $78.60 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $1.78, or 2.4%, to settle at $75.57 a barrel.

The U.S. market was closed on Friday for a holiday. Both benchmarks rose on Monday to the highest since Nov. 26.

On that day, oil plunged by more than 10% when reports of a