Oil prices rise after 5.4% slump

U.S. West Texas Intermediate WTI crude futures rose by $1.72, or 2.6%, to $67.90 a barrel after a 3.9% drop on Tuesday.

After a 5.4% slump on Tuesday, the price of crude futures gained $1.88, or 2.7%, to $71.11 a barrel.

Major producers will discuss how to respond to the threat of a hit to fuel demand from the omicron variant.

OPEC and its allies begin two days of meetings to decide whether or not to release more oil into the market or restrain supply amid an oil price rout, according to a report by the European Central Bank.

Plans seem mixed as some analysts believe OPEC will pause plans to add 400,000 barrels of supply in January, but several OPEC ministers have said there was no need to change course.

A Reuters survey found that OPEC pumped 27.74 million barrels per day in November, up 220,000 barrels per day from the previous month, but it was less than the 254,000 barrels per day increase allowed for OPEC members under the OPEC agreement.

The American Petroleum Institute industry group's data showed that the U.S. crude stocks fell by 747,000 barrels in the week ending Nov. 26, which was a smaller decline than expected, according to market sources.

The estimate was for crude stockpiles to fall by about 1.2 million barrels.