NEW YORK, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices extended losses on Tuesday, as concerns over weaker crude demand persist, weighing on the market.

The West Texas Intermediate for April delivery settled 1.53 U.S. dollars lower at 49.90 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, notching its lowest finish in two weeks.

Brent crude for April delivery shed 1.35 dollars to close at 54.95 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

The oil market remains extremely prone to fluctuation as it is caught between a rock and hard place, according to experts.

"Risk appetite appears to be growing again on the markets," Eugen Weinberg, energy analyst at Commerzbank Research, said in a note Tuesday.

While fears of virus-related risks to demand persist, there are also emerging doubts about the willingness of OPEC+ to extend and expand the necessary production cuts, he added.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, have been largely limiting oil output in recent years in order to boost prices.

In December, the group agreed to deepen production cuts by an additional 500,000 barrels a day, bringing the total cuts to 1.7 million barrels daily. Enditem

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