us oil futures were headed lower on the eve of 2022 threatening to post a loss for the first time in eight sessions as investors looked to lighten up on risk after gains for crude in the week the month and the year news on the spread of the omicron variant of covid is being watched by traders but the novel strain has mostly been dismissed as less severe and therefore less of a potential demand drag for the crude complex west texas intermediate crude for february delivery clg22 cl00 traded 150 or 2 lower at 7549 a barrel on the new york mercantile exchange after gaining 06 on thursday wti’s seven straight gains mark the longest such advance since an eightsession period ended feb 10 february brent crude brng22 the international benchmark brn00  was trading 142 or 18 lower at 7810 a barrel on ice futures europe following a gain of 01 a day ago for the week month and year wti is up 23 14 and nearly 55 the brent contract is up 3 for the week almost 13 in december and about 51 in the year to date factset data show for the quarter brent is down 07 while wti is up a modest 06 friday’s stallout in crude comes as covid infections have ratcheted higher in parts of the world the sevenday average of new cases in the us has risen at a parabolic pace to 344543 on thursday up from 301477 on wednesday and flight cancellations headed into 2022 persist as sick employees make it difficult for airlines to properly staff flights however in south africa where the omicron variant of covid was first identified the government said the country’s latest viral outbreak had subsided and it would be easing restrictions next week opec will assess its plans to boost daily oil production among its members to 400000 bpd starting in february or adjust its output to factor the spread of covid the organization of the petroleum exporting countries and its allies including russia will meet on jan 4 to discuss global output strategy sign up for our market watch newsletters here