WTI crude oil is on a bearish track in early trading on Friday as the US dollar strengthened and made oil more expensive for holders of other currencies even as markets worry about crude output picking up as the global economy begins to recover in the near future. At the time of writing, WTI crude oil is trading at around $62.81 per barrel.

WTI crude oil prices fell by around 0.6%, losing all the value gained during the previous session. Despite the current bearishness, both crude benchmarks are set to post a monthly gain of around 20% so far for February amid rising optimism for an improvement in demand on the back of COVID-19 vaccine rollouts and crude output cuts in the US due to the deep freeze.

Oil traders have now turned their attention to the upcoming OPEC+ meeting scheduled for next week, with the mood turning cautious as countries could consider increasing supply over hopes for recovery in global economic conditions and oil demand. The increased distribution of vaccines across the world could bring an end to lockdowns and restrictions, helping economic activity recover and spur the demand for crude oil, which could encourage oil producing nations to pick up production.

In addition, WTI crude faces challenges in the US on account of oil refiners across Texas taking longer to resume operations. Analysts estimate the loss of refinery demand across the region due to refiners still remaining shut to be around 4 million bpd.