Brent crude oil prices climbed to $105.8 a barrel by 3:42 EST on Monday, up 4.65% on the day. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was trading just above $102. Prices rose on Monday as traders assessed the mood in Saudi Arabia following US President Joe Biden’s meeting with the Crown Prince on Friday. On Sunday, Biden’s adviser on international energy affairs, Amos Hochstein, said Washington believed OPEC producers in the Middle East — namely Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — would take some steps to boost supply to the market. oil soon. However, the prevailing sentiment seems to be that the Saudis have no intention of interfering with oil prices at this time. Last week’s sell-off on views that Biden’s trip to Saudi Arabia could lead to a decision by OPEC to raise production is now reversing. Monday’s higher oil prices were also driven by a weaker US dollar thanks to investors tempering their expectations for a more hawkish approach to interest rates from the Fed next week. The US dollar index fell 0.464% on Monday. Biden’s meeting with the Saudi crown prince sent markets offsetting oil lower, despite widespread doubts that anything could be achieved in terms of an OPEC production increase. On Monday, Iraq’s oil minister told Bloomberg that oil is likely to continue trading above $100 for the rest of this year. “I would like OPEC to maintain its tools to measure and control production and maintain the existing balance,” Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar told Bloomberg. “We will discuss this with our partners.” The next meeting for OPEC+ will take place on August 3. By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com More top reads from Oilprice.com:
