Oil prices closed higher on the day, but well off the intraday highs, on optimism that the omicron variant may not be as severe as feared, easing concern over the demand outlook. “While there is probably going to be some demand destruction because of omicron, the market priced in a lot worse than what it’s going to be,” said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group Inc. “We are getting back to more real fundamentals versus the fear fundamentals we were trading on last week.” Adding to bullish sentiment, the prospect of a deal to unlock sanctions on over 1 million barrels per day of Iranian oil exports ... (full story)