LONDON—Oil prices eased on Thursday after the world’s top importer China cut the first batch of crude import allocations for 2022, offsetting the impact of U.S. data showing fuel demand had held up despite soaring Omicron coronavirus infections. Brent crude futures fell 52 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $78.71 a barrel at 1022 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures slid 59 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $75.97 a barrel after six straight sessions of gains. Oil prices pared earlier gains after China, the world’s top crude importer, lowered the first batch of 2022 import quotas to mostly independent refiners by 11 percent. Global oil prices have rebounded by between 50 percent and 60 percent in 2021 as fuel demand roared back to near pre-pandemic levels and deep production cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) for most of the year erased a …