Oil rose after the OPEC+ alliance agreed to increase oil production gradually over the next three months.

Times are getting tougher by the day for oil tanker owners.

OPEC’s crude production plunged in February as Saudi Arabia delivered extra cutbacks intended to clear the remnants of a global supply glut.

Saudi Arabia urged caution as OPEC+ gathered to discuss whether to hike supply again in February, with many countries wary of undermining a fragile recovery.

The president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries reiterated that the oil producers’ cartel shouldn’t rush to increase output early next year and said energy demand was still fragile with the coronavirus raging across parts of the world.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies reached an agreement to ease its oil-output cuts next year more gradually than previously planned, giving a fragile market more time to absorb the extra supply.

OPEC+ began two days of potentially complicated talks to hash out the size of its oil-production cuts next year, with the group’s president calling for caution in a fragile market.

OPEC+ inched closer to delaying its January output increase, with Russia actively discussing keeping its current curbs for an extra three months as oil markets weaken.

Developing countries’ difficulty in containing the spread of the coronavirus pandemic will keep a lid on global oil demand, particularly in India, the OPEC cartel said Sept. 14 as it cut its forecasts.

OPEC expects demand for its crude oil to rebound sharply next year, surpassing levels seen before the coronavirus crisis, as rival producers struggle to revive output.