Oil rose for the first time in eight days after China said the country’s refineries processed a record amount of crude last month. Refining volume in China, the world’s second largest energy consumer, climbed 21 percent from a year earlier to 33.4 million metric tons, or 8.1 million barrels a day, according to government statistics. China’s industrial production grew more than estimated in November. “This is the fastest growth in Chinese oil demand since 2004,” Amrita Sen, a London based oil analyst at Barclays Capital, said by phone. “China has really surprised to the upside this year.”
Crude oil for January delivery rose as much as 66 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $71.20 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $71.03 a barrel at 1:31 p.m. London time. Oil prices have fallen 8 percent since the beginning of this month and dropped 3 percent on Dec. 9, when a U.S. government report showed U.S. gasoline inventories rose to the highest level since April. Futures are up 59 percent this year. “China’s oil imports just don’t stop growing,” Frank Schallenberger, head of commodities research at Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg, said by phone from Stuttgart. “China will sell more cars than the U.S. this year, and that is pushing up gasoline demand”.....Read the entire article.
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