The rise in oil price is seen as a result of the unrest in Kazakhstan and the worsening political situation in Libya. The protests began in Kazakhstan's oil-rich western regions after state price caps on butane and propane were removed on New Year's Day.  Kazakshtan’s president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has accepted the cabinet’s resignation after demonstrators stormed and torched public buildings in the republic's worst unrest for more than a decade.

Brent crude futures climbed 48 cents, or 0.6%, to $82.47 a barrel, adding to a 1.5% jump in the previous session.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 50 cents, or 0.6%, to $79.96 a barrel, extending a 2.1% gain in the previous session.

Brent and WTI were on track to post a 6% gain in the first week of the year, with prices at their highest since late November, as supply concerns overtook worries that the rapid spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant might hurt demand.

Supply additions from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and allies, together called OPEC+, are not keeping up with demand growth.

OPEC's output in December rose by 70,000 barrels per day from the previous month, well short of the 253,000 bpd increase allowed under the OPEC+ supply deal, which restored output that was slashed in 2020 when demand collapsed under COVID-19 lockdowns.

Production in Libya has dropped to 729,000 barrels per day, down from a high of 1.3 million bpd last year, partly due to pipeline maintenance work.