* OPEC SecGen says $100/bbl crude won't guarantee more
output
* Technicals show oil netural, biased to fall
[]
* Coming Up: IEA monthly oil market report
(Adds Saudi allocations, detail on China data, updates prices)
By Alejandro Barbajosa
SINGAPORE, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Oil rose for a second day on
Friday and consolidated gains above $88, after trade data
showed China's crude imports rebounded in November, returning
to trend growth.
Imports by the world's second-largest crude user jumped
22.1 percent last month from a year earlier to 5.09 million
barrels per day (bpd), the fourth highest monthly average on
record, data from China's General Administration of Customs
showed on Friday. []
"In terms of the dynamic of China, I believe the data, the
policy and the road map for reform is suggesting further
sustainable strong demand," said Geoff Howie, sales and
markets strategist at MF Global in Singapore.
"We are still bullish. Asia is driving the price higher."
U.S. crude for January <CLc1> added 19 cents to $88.56 a
barrel at 0506 GMT, after hitting a 26-month high of $90.76 on
Tuesday. Still, prices were down about $1 from the settlement
last Friday. ICE Brent <LCOc1> rose 20 cents to $91.19.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
(OPEC) said it wanted an improvement in oil market
fundamentals before increasing crude supplies, even if prices
go to $100 a barrel.
"If it goes to $100 due to speculation, OPEC will not
move," said OPEC Secretary General Abdullah al-Badri in Quito,
Ecuador, where the group will meet on Saturday. []
Saudi Arabia, the world's top crude exporter, will supply
full contracted volumes of crude oil in January to at least
six Asian term buyers, steady from December levels as
expected, industry sources familiar with the matter said on
Friday. []
CHINA FOCUS
China's November crude imports rose 31.9 percent from the
19-month low of 3.86 million bpd in October, a Reuters
calculation showed, as oil firms stepped up shipments to
support high refinery crude throughput amid widespread diesel
shortages.
The trade data comes as financial markets monitor
Beijing's attempts to control inflation.
While reports earlier this week suggested an interest rate
increase might come as soon as this weekend, other market
watchers said China may use alternative policy tools,
including raising the reserve ratio requirements for banks or
letting the yuan appreciate faster.
"The interest rate increase, if you look at it from a
broader perspective, is part of the capital markets reform,
which will play a major role in further industrialisation in
China," Howie said. "It helps rebalance China towards a more
sustainable domestic economy."
Oil prices rose on Thursday, snapping two days of losses,
as falling claims for U.S. jobless benefits fed hopes about
the economy, while crude also got a lift as gasoline futures
jumped on news of a refinery outage.
U.S. data showed the number of first-time claims for
jobless benefits fell more than expected last week and the
four-week average dropped to a two-year low, renewing hopes
for a labor market recovery. []
Cash market gasoline prices in the New York Harbor jumped
due as the operator of the giant 500,000 barrels per day
Hovensa LLC refinery in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands,
confirmed unscheduled repairs to a gasoline-making unit. The
refinery delivers supplies to the harbor.[]
Japanese stocks slipped from a seven-month high on Friday
on profit taking, though were poised to outperform the rest of
Asia this week, while U.S. Treasuries were steady on the view
yields had risen too high, too quickly.
(Editing by Ed Lane)
