OPEC postponses technical meetings to evaluate Omicron impact: sources

LONDON - OPEC and its allies have postponed technical meetings to later this week, giving themselves more time to assess the impact of the new Omicron coronavirus variant on oil demand and prices, according to OPEC+ sources and documents.

Oil prices crashed together with other financial markets on Friday by more than 10 percent, their largest one-day drop since April 2020, as the new variant spooked investors and added to concerns that a supply surplus could swell in the first quarter.

Friday's fall was exacerbated by low liquidity due to a US public holiday.

Before Friday, OPEC had already predicted the surplus would grow steeply after the United States and other major consumers decided to released oil stocks to help cool down prices.

OPEC and allies known as OPEC+ have move their joint technical committee to Wednesday from Monday, according to the documents. OPEC would hold a meeting the same day.

A joint ministerial monitoring committee will meet on Thursday instead of Tuesday, the documents showed, OPEC+ will also meet the same day, when a policy decision will likely be announced.

"We need more time to understand what this new variant is and if we need to overreact or not," one OPEC+ source said.

OPEC+ has been releasing 400,000 barrels per day of oil per month while winding down its record cuts from last year, when it cut production by as much as 10 million bpd to address lower demand caused by the virus lockdowns.

OPEC+ has some 3.8 million bpd of cuts still in place and some analysts have suggested the group could pause with the increases after the release of stocks and possible repercussions for demand from new lockdowns to contain the new variant.

-reuters- 

Japan places Tokyo under COVID-19 state of 'quasi-emergency'

TOKYO - Japan placed Tokyo under a new, month-long state of "quasi-emergency" on Friday to combat surging COVID-19 infections, less than a month after the capital and host of the Summer Olympics lifted a broader state of emergency.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said the restrictions were needed to prevent regional outbreaks from turning into a nationwide wave.

"We ask that people refrain from unnecessary travel between prefectures as much as possible," Suga said in televised remarks.

In a meeting with experts, Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura proposed a month of targeted restrictions in Tokyo, like reduced business hours for bars and restaurants, along with 24 days of curbs for Kyoto and Okinawa, starting on April 12.

That would take the period of restrictions through Japan's annual "Golden Week" holiday season from April 29 to May 5.

Japan's total COVID-19 cases crossed 500,000 on Friday, according to domestic media tallies. There have been 9,331 deaths, according to the health ministry, low compared to most major economies, but concerns about a new wave of infections are rising, particularly with the hosting of the postponed 2020 Summer Olympic Games coming up fast.

On Monday, Japan placed the western prefectures of Osaka and Hyogo, along with Miyagi in the northeast, under targeted lockdown measures. Osaka, home to about 8.8 million people, has been hit especially hard, reporting a record 905 cases on Thursday.

Tokyo reported 537 new cases on Friday, while Osaka had 883 new infections.

"The mutant strain is spreading rapidly, and we are extremely concerned," said Nishimura, who also heads the country's coronavirus response, speaking at the start of the meeting with experts.

The new measures are based on a revised infection control law and can be applied to a narrower area than the state of emergency that Suga declared for most of the country in early January.

The controls allow regional governments to order businesses like bars and restaurants to shorten operating hours and to impose fines of 200,000 yen ($1,820) or publish the names of those that do not comply. 

-reuters-

Thailand braced for infections spike after detecting UK COVID-19 variant

BANGKOK—Thailand has detected at least 24 cases of the coronavirus variant B.1.1.7 first identified in Britain, a government health expert said on Wednesday, its first known domestic transmission of the highly contagious variant.

The SARS-CoV-2 variant known as B.1.1.7 has been found in more than 100 countries and has been blamed for fueling new waves of infections in record numbers.

The UK variant was found in a cluster of 24 visitors to entertainment venues in Bangkok, which were detected at the weekend. Nearly 200 such venues have been closed for two weeks.

"We did everything to block it, and it still gets through," Yong Poovorawan, a government expert and virologist at Chulalongkorn University, told a health ministry briefing.

"This variant is very viral and can spread 1.7 times faster than the usual strain," he said.

Thailand has seen infections jump in the past week, although numbers are still low compared to some of its regional neighbors.

It recorded 334 new infections on Wednesday, with no new deaths, bringing its case total to 29,905 and 95 fatalities.

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha instructed authorities to prepare field hospitals in anticipation of a spike in infections.

Ten of his ministers and dozens of lawmakers were self-isolating on Wednesday due to exposure to positive cases.

"We can handle things right now and I have instructed the preparation for field hospitals in Bangkok area," Prayuth said of the rise in cases.

"We could need these field hospitals in case the pandemic worsens," he added.

Confirmation of the presence of the B.1.1.7 variant will be a setback for Thailand, which is just a week away from one of its biggest holiday periods.

B.1.1.7 is as much as 70% more transmissible than existing variants, and far deadlier, according to British scientists. 

Yong said he was puzzled at how community transmission had occurred given Thailand's strict border controls, quarantine and testing protocols, which in January had detected the variant in a family traveling from Britain, who were isolated.

Opas Karnkawinpong of the Department of Disease Control warned of thousands of new daily infections if restrictions are not followed during the holiday period.

Thailand is aiming to start is mass immunisation campaign from June but has been vaccinating health workers or people deemed vulnerable, with more than 300,000 recipients so far, according to the Health Ministry.

(Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um and Panarat Thempgumpanat; Editing by Martin Petty)

-reuters-