Oil crept higher as Saudi Arabia surprised customers in Asia by hiking prices for its main crude grade, signaling a vote of confidence that the market can absorb extra OPEC barrels.

Oil rose 1% on Monday as signs of strong demand outweighed the impact of OPEC+ hiking output more than expected for August, as well as concern about the potential impact of U.S. tariffs.

HOUSTON] Oil prices rose nearly 2 per cent on Monday as signs of strong demand more than offset the impact of a higher-than-expected Opec+ output hike for August and fresh concerns about the potential impact of US tariffs.