Following President Joe Biden's visit to Saudi Arabia, oil prices increased.
It was the biggest one-day rise since early July for the global benchmark. It dropped for a fifth week in a row because of concern about demand destruction.
Biden failed to convince Saudi Arabia's crown prince to increase oil production in order to bring down the price of energy. Sanctions and boycotts of Russian fuel have forced many countries to look for other supplies. Saudi ministers said the country's oil production would be aligned with the rules of the group.
After President Biden left the Middle East with no promise of additional barrels to help suppress high US gasoline prices, crude oil futures traded higher.
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, two of the world's leading oil exporting countries, said they were pumping as much as they can. Even though there is concern that global growth could slow and cause a decline in energy usage, global supply is tight enough to push the oil price above $120 last month.
The price of gasoline in the US went over $5 a gallon for the first time in June, causing inflation and hurting American drivers.
There are supply risks in international markets. Jeffrey Halley of OANDA said that the real-world dynamic is still supportive of oil prices.
The potential for demand destruction has caused oil prices to slip in recent weeks, but on the physical markets, where traders buy and sell actual cargoes of oil, prices are at 14-year highs.
With investors looking for US interest rates to rise by at least another three quarters of a point this month, while a patchy earnings season unfolds, energy markets are likely to be volatile.
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