(For Bloomberg fair value curves, see CFVL <GO>)
June 2 (Bloomberg) -- West Texas Intermediate crude rose for the second time in three days after manufacturing expanded at the fastest pace this year in China, the world’s second- biggest oil consumer. Brent advanced in London.
Futures gained as much as 0.5 percent in New York. China’s Purchasing Managers’ Index climbed to 50.8 in May, the National Bureau of Statistics and China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing reported in Beijing yesterday. Manufacturing data from Europe and the U.S. are due today. Libya’s Hariga port is set to reopen after authorities approved salary payments to Petroleum Facilities Guard members who are preventing crude loadings, according to National Oil Corp.
“The Chinese PMI figure came out a little bit better than expected and that gives the market hope that there might be a steadying process going on with the manufacturing sector and the economy generally,” said Ric Spooner, a chief strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney who predicts investors may sell West Texas contracts if futures advance to about $104.50 a barrel.
WTI for July delivery increased as much as 46 cents to $103.17 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $103.14 at 1:27 p.m. Sydney time. The volume of all futures traded was about 6 percent below the 100-day average. Prices are up 4.8 percent this year.
Brent for July settlement gained as much as 37 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $109.78 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark crude traded at a premium of $6.61 to WTI, compared with $6.70 on May 30.
Chinese Economy
China’s government has stepped up the pace of stimulus measures to meet its economic-growth target of about 7.5 percent this year. The PMI for May is the highest since December and surpasses the median estimate of 50.7 in a Bloomberg News survey of economists. April’s level was 50.4, with readings above 50 indicating expansion.
The nation will account for about 11 percent of global oil demand this year, compared with 21 percent for the U.S., forecasts from the International Energy Agency in Paris show.
In Libya, two tankers are waiting to load at Hariga and the terminal “should reopen soon,” Mohamed Elharari, a spokesman for National Oil, said by phone from Tripoli yesterday. The nation has become the smallest producer in the 12-member Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in the past year as unrest disrupted output and shipments.