Oil prices rose after Saudi Arabia warned that supplies could be cut to arrest the recent slide in the value of a barrel of crude.
The financial news group Bloomberg quoted Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman as saying the OPEC+ cartel has the “means and flexibility to deal with challenges”.
He added that the oil trading had moved into "a self-perpetuating vicious circle of very thin liquidity and extreme volatility".
This, he explained, made the cost of hedging and managing risks for market participants prohibitive.
Brent crude, which has twice peaked above US$120 a barrel this year, has dropped back recently and hit US$92.60 earlier this month.
The comments by bin Salman prompted a 1.1% jump in the price of benchmark price to US$97.57 in early trade in London.