* Near $1 trillion rescue package calms global markets
* OPEC sees oil prices pushing back above $80 per barrel
* For a technical view of oil prices, see []
* Coming Up: U.S. employment figures at 1400 GMT
(Updates prices)
By Christopher Johnson
LONDON, May 10 (Reuters) - U.S. oil prices rallied to above
$77 per barrel on Monday after policymakers agreed a $1 trillion
rescue package to stabilise world financial markets and try to
resolve the euro zone debt crisis.
The size of the package surprised dealers and boosted
confidence that oil demand will recover this year.
The package consists of 440 billion euros in guarantees from
euro area states, plus 60 billion euros in a European
stabilisation fund that could be disbursed to help euro zone
states if needed. A further 250 billion euros would come from
the International Monetary Fund. []
Global equities markets <.MIWD00000PUS> and the euro <EUR=>
rebounded and the dollar index slipped <.DXY> as news of the
rescue package helped calm risk aversion. [] []
Benchmark U.S. light crude oil futures for June delivery
<CLc1> were $2.30 higher at $77.41 a barrel by 1327 GMT after
hitting an intra-day high of $78.51, up $3.40. ICE Brent crude
for June <LCOc1> jumped $2.58 to $80.85.
OPEC Secretary-General Abdullah al-Badri said he expected
the emergency package to boost oil prices back up above $80 a
barrel, but warned of wild price swings as the global economy
continued on its path to recovery.
"I think the market will look positively at this
development," Badri told reporters on the sidelines of the Arab
Energy Conference. "I assume prices would go back to normal,
where it was ... back up to $80 plus." []
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For a graph of crude oil futures and world stocks, click
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/ACO_20101005090033.jpg
For a graph of front-month crude contract volatility, click:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/MBU_20101005114720.jpg
For a graph of 2010 commodity price performance, click:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/10/CMD_PRFG0510.html
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"BEARISH" FUNDAMENTALS
Crude prices fell more than $11 last week, the biggest
weekly loss in almost a year and a half, on worries the euro
zone's debt crisis would derail the global economic recovery.
David Hufton, managing director of oil brokers PVM in
London, said oil prices should head higher again.
"If we lost $11 per barrel last week on a crisis of
confidence, there is every reason to suppose we could gain a
similar amount on a restoration of that confidence," he said.
"Fundamentals on oil have not changed. They remain bearish,
but that did not stop WTI hitting $87.15 only a week ago."
Badri said on Sunday global oil markets were oversupplied,
but it was too early to talk about the producer group taking
action to halt the sharp price fall sparked by the euro zone
debt crisis. []
"OPEC is overproducing, there is no doubt about it," he told
reporters in Doha, urging greater compliance from OPEC producers
with deep curbs in production agreed in 2008.
Price charts show U.S. crude temporarily supported at $74.51
and expected to rebound to $78 as the drop last week was too
sharp not to be followed by a powerful rebound.
Saudi Arabia, the world's top crude oil exporter, will
maintain full volumes to its main Asian customers and keep
supplies steady to at least one European major next month,
suggesting it is content with oil prices. []
China imported 21.17 million tonnes of crude oil or 5.15
million barrels per day in April, a record high level on a daily
basis, according to data released by the customs department. The
import level was 31 percent higher than a year earlier, when
imports were at 16.17 million tonnes. []
(Additional reporting by Alejandro Barbajosa in Tokyo; editing
by Keiron Henderson)
