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 By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark U.S. crude for January
delivery was up 36 cents at $93.08 a barrel in electronic trading on
the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 41 cents to
close at $93.68 on Friday.
Chinese manufacturing continued to grow slightly in November, a
survey showed, in evidence that growth in the world's No. 2 economy
was continuing, albeit at a modest pace.
HSBC's purchasing managers' index released Monday slipped to 50.8
points from 50.9 in October. Although November's reading was little
changed, HSBC said it was the second-highest level in eight months,
indicating China's massive manufacturing industries are improving,
though marginally.
China's leaders are counting on a continuing recovery to avoid the
need for further stimulus. China's economic growth rose to 7.8
percent in the third quarter after slumping to a two-decade low of
7.5 percent in the previous three months.
"The bullish (Chinese) data, combined with the expectation that OPEC
will leave its oil production quota unchanged at 30 million barrels
per day ... has supported the U.S. benchmark," said a report from
Sucden Financial Research in London.
Delegates from some of the world's key oil producers, including
Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Nigeria, will meet Wednesday at OPEC
headquarters in Vienna.
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An estimate from analysts at JBC Energy in Vienna showed OPEC's
crude output fell to 29.44 million barrels a day in November, the
lowest since May 2011 and the third straight month with output below
30 million. Most of the difference was attributed to production and
export snags in Libya, where political volatility and the effects of
the 2011 civil war continue to affect the oil industry.
Meanwhile, Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, was down
35 cents to $109.34 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.
In other energy futures trading on Nymex:
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Wholesale gasoline lost 0.5 cent to $2.6623 a gallon.
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Heating oil fell 0.63 cents to $3.0245 a gallon.
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Natural gas shed 3 cents to $3.924 per 1,000 cubic feet.
[Associated
Press; PABLO GORONDI]
Copyright 2013 The Associated
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