WTI crude oil is starting the brand new week on a bearish note, sliding lower ahead of the crucial OPEC+ meeting when leading oil producing nations of the world take a call on whether to change their output levels. At the time of writing, WTI crude oil is trading at around $75.93 per barrel.

After trading bullish through the past six straight weeks, traders have turned cautious over the possibility that OPEC and its allies could consider increasing production to offset the rise in oil prices. Crude oil prices have rebounded sharply with UK Brent crossing the key $80 per barrel mark last week as demand surged amid nations easing restrictions and resuming normal levels of economic activity once again.

The outlook for crude oil has turned bullish amid rapid global economic recovery but is being weighed down in the near-term as markets wait to see if OPEC+ will give into demands for increasing oil production. OPEC and its allies had scaled back on production at the beginning of the pandemic as nations went into lockdown, causing a sharp drop in oil demand worldwide.

However, a few months ago, the leading oil producers of the world agreed to gradually increase supply by 400k bpd each month till April 2022 to erase these production curbs. However, some of the member nations are keen to ramp up production at a faster pace, under pressure from leading oil consumers worldwide that are struggling with the surge in commodity prices.

In addition to a strong rebound in demand, crude oil prices have also been on the rise lately on the back of a sharp increase in natural gas prices, which have increased by 300%. This has further raised the demand for oil and other crude products as a means to generate electricity for industries.