Decisions by OPEC+ are not politicized and are based on market fundamentals, Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said on Monday, adding that the alliance of oil producers is sufficiently flexible to adjust policy as needed.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports in December 2022 rose by 157,000 bpd to 7.44 million bpd.

These figures were announced by the International Energy Forum (IEF) on Monday, citing data from the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI).

According to JODI data, Saudi oil product exports rose by 0.222 million bpd to 1.4 million bpd in December.

The demand for petroleum products in Saudi Arabia increased by 0.022 million bpd to 2.399 million bpd.

Global oil demand climbed in December by 1.3 million bpd to a new record high, the data showed.

Oil prices rose on Monday amid optimism over China’s demand recovery, concerns that underinvestment will crimp future oil supply and as major producers keep output limits in place.

Brent crude rose 1.1%, to $83.97 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for March was at $77.28 a barrel, up 1.2%. The more active April contract was up 0.5% at $76.90.

The benchmarks settled down $2 a barrel on Friday and closed lower by about 4% last week after the US reported higher crude and gasoline inventories.

“Brent and WTI prices are up slightly this morning after selling off on recent hawkish Fed commentary, following stronger than expected CPI and PPI data released in the US,” Baden Moore, head of commodities research at National Australia Bank, told Reuters.

While last week’s announcement that the US will sell 26 million barrels of crude oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserves adds some downward pressure to the market, global supply looks to be “flat to down” versus the previous corresponding period after factoring in production cuts by Russia and OPEC+, added Moore.