Crude prices rise in the face of growing tensions between the United States and Saudi

Oil prices rose on Monday, fueled by a growing feud between the United States and Saudi Arabia over a missing journalist, although recent data shows demand for the product is down.

November West Texas Intermediate Brut

CLX8, + 0.42%

increased 43 cents, or 0.68%, to 71.79 dollars a barrel, after a fall of about 4% last week. Raw Brent

LCOZ8, + 0.63%

The global benchmark rose 80 cents, or 1%, to $ 81.22 a barrel, after dropping 4.4% last week.

Last week's oil losses were linked to a two-day global stock market selloff, with questions about the economic strength in the US and around the world and about final energy consumption. Equity futures once again fell on Monday, as Asian equities generally weakened.

In an interview on Sunday, US President Donald Trump threatened to "punish severely" if an investigation found that the kingdom was involved in any way in the disappearance of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who had been seen for the last time. once enter the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2.

Rejecting this decision, Riyadh promised even stronger retaliation against any Washington initiative, adding that the nation "plays an active and active role in the global economy." A Sunday editorial also warned Saudi Arabian channel general manager Turki Aldakhil that any sanctions imposed on the country could raise oil prices to 100, 200 or even double.

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"Another geopolitical hot spot for the US administration, but this one is extremely challenging as President Trump has put pressure on Saudi Arabia to increase its offer to counter the oil penalty imposed by Iran", said Stephen Innes, trade manager for the Asia-Pacific region. OANDA, in a note to customers.

Meanwhile, the international reaction against the Saudis because of the missing journalist was intensifying, as Ford Motor Co.

F -1.93%

President Bill Ford and JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM,

JPM, -1.09%

The CEO, James Dimon, has become the last big names to pull out of a major investment conference in Saudi Arabia.

The gains for oil, however, have been controlled by headwinds for prices. Last week, the International Energy Agency's (IEA) monthly report predicted a drop in global oil demand, citing the potential impact of a US-China trade dispute. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries lowered its growth forecast of global oil demand for demand this year and next year, due to rising production of OPEC and from Russia.

Data from Baker Hughes

BHGE, + 0.62%

Friday showed that the number of active oil rigs in the United States, which offers a glimpse of production activity, increased from 8 to 869 this week. This trend followed three consecutive declines and was the largest weekly increase since the week ended August 10th.

Among the other energy products, the essence of November

RBX8, + 0.23%

added 0.6% to $ 1.945 per gallon.

HOX8, + 0.40%

for the same month lost 0.9% to $ 2.341 a gallon. November natural gas

NGX18, + 0.98%

jumped 1% to $ 3.194 per million British thermal units.

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– Myra Picache contributed to this article