02:43 PM EDT, 05/01/2025 (MT Newswires) -- West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil rose off four-year low early on Thursday as investors move to add risk assets.

WTI crude oil for June delivery closed up US$1.03 to settle at US$59.24 per barrel after closing at the lowest since February, 2021, a day earlier. July Brent crude was last seen up US$0.88 to US$61.94.

The rise comes as investors move to risk assets, with North American and international stock markets moving higher despite data this week showing a slowing U.S. economy.

The United States on Wednesday reported an unexpected fall in its first-quarter gross domestic product, while hiring is slowed even ahead of the April 2 imposition of blanket tariffs against nearly all U.S. trading partners by President Donald Trump.

The prospect of slowing demand amid the fracturing of global trading patterns comes as OPEC+ adds 411,000 barrels per day of supply as it unwinds 2.2-million bpd of production cuts,. Reports say the group is readying another outsized production boost to output in June. Reuters on Wednesday reported Saudi Arabia is prepared to weather a prolonged period of low prices as its seeks to punish Kazakhstan and other OPEC+ members producing above their quota by boosting output.

"The marriage of convenience or even a must in 2016, which resulted in the OPEC producer alliance expanding in its effort to increase its control of the supply market seems to be heading towards a divorce. Whether it will be amicable or acrimonious is not entirely clear but the steeper-than-expected unwinding of production constraints in May and possibly in June, together with Kazakhstan's explicit reluctance to comply will lead to even more available oil in the coming months," PVM Oil Associates wrote.