Crude output ticked up last week, reaching a new 2022 peak ahead of President Biden’s latest call for U.S. producers to boost activity in the face of soaring prices.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Wednesday output climbed to 12.0 million b/d for the week ended June 10, up 100,000 b/d week/week. It marked the first increase in five weeks after modest bumps earlier this year.

U.S. output, however, remains more than 1.0 million b/d below the pre-pandemic high, EIA data show. Producers throughout the recent first quarter earnings season said they were trying to strike a balance between meeting the global economy’s thirst for more oil and investor demands for elevated stock buybacks and dividend hikes as well as politicians’ calls for more investments in...