Oil prices rose on Wednesday amid optimistic forecasts of global fuel demand recovery, while the rapid spread of COVID19 infections in India and a biggerthanexpected build in U.S. crude stocks capped gains.

Brent crude futures rose 28 cents, or 0.42, to 66.70 a barrel at 0646 GMT, following a 1.2 gain from Tuesday.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate WTI crude futures rose 29 cents, or 0.46, to 62.23 a barrel, after gaining 1.7 on Tuesday.

An OPEC decision to stick to plans for a phased easing of oil production restrictions from May to July underscored the producers confidence in a recovery in global demand.

U.S. bank Goldman Sachs expected the biggest jump in oil demand ever, a 5.2 million barrels per day bpd rise over the next six months, according to a Wednesday research note, citing an acceleration of vaccinations in Europe and an unleashing of pentup travel demand.

The easing of international travel restrictions in May will lead global jet demand to recover by 1.5 million bpd, Goldman said.

In a report by OPEC experts, the group forecast global oil demand in 2021 would grow by 6 million bpd, after falling 9.5 million bpd last year.

The oil cartel remains confident about the demand outlook as the economies of the U.S. and China rebound strongly. This helped to offset concerns about growing coronavirus cases in India, Japan and Brazil, DailyFX strategist Margaret Yang noted.

Oil prices had dropped in Asias morning as the COVID19 death toll surged past 200,000 in…