Azernews.Az

By Bloomberg

Oil advanced from the lowest closing level in six months in London as China imported recorded volumes of crude and some OPEC members discussed the possibility of an emergency meeting.

Brent gained 1.4 percent, reversing an earlier loss. China’s crude oil imports rose to a record on a monthly basis driven by buying from small private refineries, according to preliminary data released by the Beijing-based General Administration of Customs on Saturday. Algeria and Libya said the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries could meet earlier than its scheduled December gathering to address the crude oversupply. Four of the group’s delegates said no such meeting is planned.

Oil has slumped more than 25 percent in New York since this year’s peak closing price in June amid signs the global surplus will be prolonged. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ largest members have sustained record output, while U.S. inventories remain more than 90 million barrels above the five-year seasonal average. Societe Generale SA and JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price forecasts on weaker demand growth and oversupply.

“The Chinese crude import numbers were strong for July,” Miswin Mahesh, an analyst at Barclays Plc in London, said by e- mail. It’s unlikely OPEC could call an emergency meeting now as this “would risk derailing their price-led balancing effort.”

Brent for September settlement gained 67 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $49.28 a barrel at 1:23 p.m. on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Prices declined 6.9 percent last week, settling at $48.61 on Aug. 7, the lowest since January. The European benchmark crude traded at a premium of $5.09 to WTI.

OPEC Meeting

West Texas Intermediate for September delivery rose 33 cents to $44.20 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It earlier fell as much as 52 cents to $43.35 a barrel. Prices have decreased 17 percent this year.

China’s overseas purchases increased to 30.71 million metric tons in July, equivalent to about 7.3 million barrels a day, according to the General Administration of Customs.

Some members have discussed holding a meeting before the scheduled Dec. 4 gathering, the Algerian official news agency reported citing Energy Minister Salah Khebri. Libya would support an emergency meeting, Nagi Elmagrabi, chairman of Libya’s state-run National Oil Corp., said by phone.

Four delegates from the group, which controls about 40 percent of world oil supplies, said they were not aware of any plan for an emergency meeting, asking not to be identified because discussions are private.