WTI crude oil is starting the brand new trading week on a strong note, with prices rising as crude production in Texas revives after the deep freeze even as demand picks up after falling severely due to the pandemic. At the time of writing, WTI crude oil is trading at around $59.95 per barrel.

Over the past week, WTI crude oil prices had weakened by 0.4% after the Texas deep freeze raised concerns of oil refiners taking several weeks to resume operations, which could dent the demand for crude oil in the US. The unexpected cold weather had caused US crude production to fall by around 4 million bpd.

Oil refiners across the US Gulf Coast could take up to three weeks to return to normal levels of operation as their systems could take considerable time to restart. Meanwhile, oil and natural gas output could also take several days to revive, which could keep the supply side of WTI oil weak in the coming sessions.

Crude oil prices have been on the rise lately over cautious optimism that demand could improve as the coronavirus pandemic is brought under control. The rollout of COVID-19 vaccines is supporting the positive sentiment that countries could stop imposing lockdowns and resume normal levels of economic activity, which in turn would help oil demand rebound to pre-pandemic levels gradually.