Oil prices were little changed on the final day of trading for 2022, with China's Covid-19 developments continuing to dominate the market.
Towards the end of the Asian session, Brent crude oil futures traded steady at $83 a barrel, while US WTI traded at $78 a barrel.
The news from Italy initially upset the market a bit when about 50% of the passengers on two flights arriving in Milan tested positive for Covid-19 following concerns about the spread of the new epidemic.
However, the country later confirmed that there were no findings of a new Covid variant in the tests.
Looking back on the performance of crude oil this year, the black commodity has recorded huge gains in the first half driven by the Russian and Ukrainian wars.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has fueled concerns about energy supply and security, causing world energy prices to skyrocket and also contributing to inflation.
However, the profit recorded again decreased following the monetary tightening of global central banks, especially the aggressive interest rate increase by the Federal Reserve (Fed), darkening the economic outlook towards recession.
Prices were also affected due to concerns about demand from China which continues to be in lockdown due to Covid-19 this year.
Overall, Brent is set to close 2022 trade up 5.76% after rising 50.2% in 2021.
Prices surged in March to a high of $139.13 a barrel, levels not seen since 2008, when the Russia-Ukraine war broke out.
Meanwhile, US WTI trading is on track to rise 4.5% in 2022 following a 55% rise last year.
