Brent crude oil prices rose more than 6 percent on Thursday morning, trade data show.
The price of June futures for Brent crude oil grew at 6.02 percent, to $26.23 per barrel. The cost of May futures for WTI crude oil rose at 4.87 percent, to $21.30 per barrel.
Concerns over COVID-19's rapid spread have made the oil market extremely volatile in March. Historical data showed the monthly and quarterly losses were the largest for both Brent and WTI.
In addition, Saudi Arabia said it would grow its output by 30 percent to 12 million barrels per day by end-April in a bid to wrest market share from Russian and US competitors. The kingdom's production hike plan came after Moscow refused to extend earlier this month its output cuts pact with Riyadh under the OPEC+ initiative.
Commenting on the oil market developments on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said he knows how to solve the oil crisis if Russia and Saudi Arabia fail to reach a deal, but did not elaborate on the details.
