NYMEX crude is 05% lower, at $73.42 a barrel, after strong gains last week. Spartan’s Peter Cardillo attributes the move to “lower demand fears as the variant ‘Fear Factor’ impacts.” The holiday weekend was market by flight cancellations, in part corroborating concerns of decreasing demand caused by the Omicron variant. Markets remain worried about the possibility of new lockdowns. On the production side, OPEC+ leaders are set to gather next week and some analysts expect them to raise output, although the new Covid-19 wave could lead the group to stay put.