After Saudi oil producer Aramco raised the official sale price of its crude, oil prices rose today, suggesting that demand remains strong at a time when supplies are scarce.

Brent crude rose 90 cents, or 1.1%, to $83.64 a barrel, after falling by about 2% last week. U.S. crude increased 87 cents, or 1.1%, to $82.14 after falling nearly 3% last week.

Late last Friday, Aramco raised the official sale price for December of its Arab light crude buyers in Asia to $2.70 per barrel above the Amman/Dubai average, up $1.40 from the current month.

In a note, A.N.Z. Risrich said that Aramco's move indicates that "demand is still strong," while the member producer of OPC and other major oil exporters continue to curb the supply.

Last week, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia, under the OPEC Group, agreed to stick to their plan to increase oil production by 400,000 barrels per day from next December.

To curb rising prices, U.S. President Joe Biden had called for OPEC to produce more oil and said last Saturday that his administration had "other tools" to deal with rising crude prices.

Meanwhile, China's oil imports last October fell to their lowest level in 3 years, with major state-owned refiners reluctant to buy due to higher prices, while independent refiners were tied to limited import quotas.