Oil prices climbed by about 4% on Tuesday, extending the previous day’s almost 5% rebound on easing concerns over the impact of the Omicron coronavirus variant on global fuel demand.

Brent crude futures were up $2.89, or 4%, at $75.97 a barrel by 12.36 pm ET (1736 GMT), having earlier touched a session high of $76.27. US West Texas Intermediate crude rose $3.17, or 4.6%, to $72.66, building on a 4.9% gain in the previous session.

Oil prices were pummelled last week by concerns that vaccines might be less effective against the new Omicron variant, sparking fears that governments could impose fresh restrictions to curb its spread and hit global growth and oil demand.