Oil prices rise on short-covering

Oil drilling rigs

Oil prices rose today, April 22, as investors took advantage of the previous session’s declines of more than 2% to cover short positions.

Brent crude was trading up 0.7% at $66.71 a barrel, at 9:19 am Makkah time. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 0.75% to $62.88 a barrel.

"There was some short-covering after Monday's sharp sell-off, but concerns about a potential recession due to trade tensions remain," said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, Chief Strategist of Nissan Securities Investment, according to Reuters.

The American Petroleum Institute's report on oil inventories is expected later today, before the official data from the US Energy Information Administration is released on April 23.