Oil prices bounced off session lows to trade nearly flat in a volatile session on Monday, after Saudi energy minister said OPEC+ could cut production to confront market challenges. Brent crude futures for October settlement fell 0.5%, to $96.28 a barrel. It had fallen as much as 4.5% earlier in the day, breaking a streak of three days of gains. Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said OPEC+ has the commitment, the flexibility, and the means to deal with challenges and provide guidance including cutting production at any time and in different forms, state news agency SPA reported. Earlier in the session, worries that aggressive U.S. interest rate hikes may lead to a global economic slowdown and dent fuel demand had pushed down price.“The near term fundamentals seem more to the bears until we see some positive economic indications either out of the U.S. or China, which is looking unlikely,” said Dennis Kissler, senior vice president of trading at BOK Financial. 

The U.S. Federal Reserve will raise rates by 50 basis points in September amid expectations inflation has peaked and growing recession worries, according to economists in a Reuters poll.