U.S. oil prices settle back above $100 for the first time in a week

Oil futures climbed on Monday, with U.S. benchmark crude prices ending back above $100 a barrel for the first time in a week. U.S. prices rebounded back above the key level after President Joe Biden came away from with Saudi Arabia “empty handed, as he urged the Saudis to increase output to combat higher prices,” said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK. Still, “it shouldn’t have been too much of a surprise that his pleas would fall on deaf ears given that oil prices have fallen for five weeks in a row.” West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery CLQ22, -0.27% rose $5.01, or 5.1%, to settle at $102.60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That was the first front-month contract settlement above $100, and the highest price finish, since July 11, FactSet data show.