Brent crude up 1.5%; WTI jumps nearly 4%

Oil prices rose on Tuesday as US crude output was slow to return after a cold snap in Texas forced production to close last week.

International benchmark Brent crude was trading up 1.5% at $66.22 per barrel (bbl), at 7 am Riyadh time.

WTI crude rose 3.8% to $61.49/bbl.

Shale oil producers in the southern United States could take at least two weeks to restart the more than 2 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude output that shut down because of cold weather, as frozen pipes and power supply interruptions slow their recovery, Reuters reported, citing sources.

Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs Commodities Research raised its Brent crude oil price forecasts by $10 for the second and third quarters of 2021, to $60/bbl and $75/bbl, respectively.