2021.04.0110:21:00UTC+00Oil Prices Climb Over 2% Ahead Of OPEC+ Meeting

Oil prices rallied on Thursday amid expectations that OPEC+ will agree to extend production curbs at a meeting later in the day.

Brent crude for June delivery climbed a little over 2 percent to $64.02 per barrel, after having fallen 2.2 percent on Wednesday.

U.S. oil futures were up 2.3 percent at $60.51, after having dropped 2.3 percent in the previous session.

In the face of resurgent Covid-19 infections in some regions and renewed lockdowns, ministers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia and Kazakhstan, a group called OPEC+, are expected to keep production curbs in place when they meet later today.

Amid rising Covid-19 cases, French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday ordered France into its third national lockdown.

Schools would close for three weeks to cope with a third wave of infections that threatens to overwhelm hospitals.

OPEC+ will debate options from May and beyond, including a rollover of existing cuts and a gradual increase of production, media reports said, citing sources.

Investors were also reacting to the EIA inventory data and the announcement of U.S. President Joe Biden's vast infrastructure plan that includes investments in roads, railways, broadband, clean energy and semiconductor manufacture.