* Saudi Arabia makes "substantial" supply cuts
* Signs of slowing demand as refiners cut runs
* Global markets await U.S. election result
(Adds analyst comment, updates prices)
By Joe Brock
LONDON, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Oil rose above $68 on Tuesday,
after industry sources said Saudi Arabia had already made
substantial cuts in crude supplies and helped the market recoup
earlier losses.
Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, has reduced
exports by around 900,000 barrels per day from a peak in August,
one source estimated. []
U.S. crude <CLc1> was up $4.49 at $68.40 a barrel by 1554
GMT. It had touched a session low earlier of $62.25. Oil
suffered its biggest monthly drop ever in October.
London Brent crude <LCOc1> was up $4.10 at $64.58 a barrel.
Earlier Brent had touched a 20-month low of $58.38.
"The petroleum markets have rebounded from lower overnight
levels on a trio of supportive factors: a weaker U.S. dollar, a
push to the upside in global equity markets and market talk that
Saudi Arabia may have already cut crude oil production," Tim
Evans, analyst at Citi Futures Perspective, said in a research
note. [] <.N>
Earlier, the market had fallen more than a dollar, pressured
partly by expectations oil refiners would have to cut output
because of weak demand for fuel. []
All markets were awaiting the outcome of the U.S.
presidential election. []
Saudi Arabia's supply cut helps to remove doubts about
whether the world's top exporter would comply quickly with a 1.5
million barrel per day output cut agreed by the Organization of
the Petroleum Exporting Countries in Vienna last month.
Other OPEC members have also cut back.
The United Arab Emirates has reduced its production to
around 2.3 million barrels per day (bpd) from around 2.5 million
bpd, a top state oil company official said on Tuesday.
[]
Algeria is reducing its oil output by 71,000 bpd in line
with OPEC's supply cut decision, the Algerian official news
agency APS said on Tuesday, quoting the country's Energy and
Mining Ministry [].
Qatar has cut exports to Asia by about 40,000 barrels per
day (bpd) from this month, Energy Minister Abdullah al-Attiyah
told Reuters.
Crude oil has plummeted from a record above $147 a barrel in
July as the credit crisis in the global banking sector has
started to hit the wider economy. This has already dampened fuel
consumption in the United States, the world's top oil consumer,
and other major consumer nations.
U.S. auto sales plunged 32 percent in October to lows unseen
in a quarter century, while U.S. factory activity -- a barometer
for future oil demand -- fell to its lowest in 26 years.
U.S. factory orders fell steeply for the second month in a
row during September. []
(Additional reporting by Jane Merriman)
