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Oil Holds Gains Near $50 a Barrel as OPEC Sees Demand Growth

©2015 Bloomberg News
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(Bloomberg) — Oil extended gains near $50 a barrel amid speculation an increase in demand will ease a global glut.

Futures rose as much as 0.5 percent in New York after advancing 9 percent last week. Demand will grow and non-OPEC supply is due to contract, Abdalla Salem El-Badri, the secretary-general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said at a conference in Kuwait City on Sunday. Prices have bottomed and there are signs of a recovery in 2016, according to Qatar’s Energy Minister Mohammed Al Sada.

Oil has fluctuated below $50 a barrel since slumping to a six-year low in August on speculation that the crude surplus will persist. OPEC continues to pump above its collective production target while U.S. stockpiles remain about 100 million barrels above the five-year average.

West Texas Intermediate for November delivery was at $49.85 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 22 cents, at 9:56 a.m. Sydney time. The contract gained 20 cents to close at $49.63 on Friday after climbing above $50 during intraday trade. The volume of all futures traded was about 39 percent below the 100-day average.

Brent for November settlement was 15 cents higher at $52.80 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. It lost 40 cents to $52.65 on Friday. The European benchmark crude was at a premium of $2.96 to WTI.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ben Sharples in Melbourne at bsharples@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Aaron Clark at aclark27@bloomberg.net Andrew Hobbs, Keith Gosman

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Men of Value Contributor

Men of Value Contributor

Articles by various contributors to Men of Value, an online magazine for American men who value our Judeo-Christian values of faith, family, and freedom.

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