Oil prices are rising on Thursday amid signs that producers are cutting production to cope with the collapse in energy demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The international Brent benchmark is up by 10.46%, or 2.13 USD, to 22.50 USD per barrel. For its part, the futures on the US light crude oil WTI traded at 15.37 USD per barrel, up by 1.48 USD, or 10.73%.

Market values ​​for WTI futures in May dropped to around minus 40 USD on Monday amid concerns that global crude oil storage is filling up amid rising supplies.

In the United States, the largest oil producer in the world, Oklahoma’s energy regulator said companies can close their wells without losing their licenses. This represents some relief for manufacturers after the market crash caused by a jump in production. The state is the fourth-largest producer of oil in the United States.

Due to lower consumption, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Russia, and other producers collectively forming the OPEC+ Group will cut their production by a record 9.7 million barrels a day from May 1. Analysts believe that these cuts should be expanded to match the lower demand.

According to official information, deliveries of Russian oil Urals from the Baltic Sea in the first 10 days of May to be 36% less than those in the same period in April. This shows that the country abides by the deal are redundancies.

US stocks of crude oil, gasoline, and distillates rose last week, according to the data of the Energy Information Administration.

The country’s raw materials rose 15 million barrels during the week ending April 17 to 518.6 million barrels. Thus, the amount of black gold reserves in the US approaches the record 535 million barrels reported in 2017.