WTI crude oil prices are on the rise in early trading on Wednesday as markets eagerly await the OPEC+ nations to announce an extension of deeper production curbs on account of the uncertainties in oil demand driven by the ongoing coronavirus crisis. At the time of writing, WTI crude oil is trading at around $60.88 per barrel.

WTI oil ended the previous session 1.6% lower over mounting worries about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on economies and oil demand around the world. Concerns rose as emerging markets Brazil and India reported a spike in COVID-19 cases even as Europe battles the third wave of the pandemic, while vaccine rollout efforts make slow progress.

OPEC and its allies are scheduled to meet on Thursday and with the pandemic continuing to wreak havoc across the world, markets are trading cautiously hopeful that the nations will agree to hold back on any plans to increase crude output anytime soon. Latest reports indicate Saudi Arabia’s willingness to extend the deeper production curbs till June.

Weak demand concerns continue to dominate the sentiment among oil traders, keeping a lid on gains, following the release of the API report which revealed a larger than expected build in US crude inventories. According to the API, US crude stockpiles increased by 3.9 million barrels over the past week against economists’ expectations for a smaller build of 100k barrels instead.