Oil prices rose on Wednesday, amid optimism about rising global demand on the back of a robust global recovery. Sentiment was also supported by reports that the Biden administration was easing travel restrictions on Chinese and other international students into the US this fall. Meanwhile, OPEC+ stuck to plans for a phased easing of oil production restrictions from May to July despite surging coronavirus cases in India, Brazil, and Japan. The group sees strong oil demand recovery in the second half of the year, projecting global oil demand in 2021 to rise by 6 million bpd, after falling 9.5 million bpd last year. On the data front, the API reported US crude supplies rising by 4.3 million barrels for the week ended April 23th.
