NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Oil futures surged 6% Wednesday to above $44, buoyed by gains on global stock markets and hopes that new stimulus plans in China, the world's second-largest oil consumer, will help boost demand for crude. Traders were also awaiting the U.S. government's weekly petroleum data. Crude oil for April delivery gained $2.66, or 6.4%, to $44.31 a barrel in early trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract had plunged 10% Monday, but has since recovered almost all of the losses. "Crude prices were higher on increased optimism the Chinese economy would recover swiftly from the current downturn," wrote Nimit Khamar, an analyst at Sucden Financial Research. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is considering new stimulus measures, adding to a $585 billion spending plan to revive the country's economy, former statistics bureau chief Li Deshui said in Beijing ahead of the National People's Congress. Asian stocks rallied after the news and European stocks also rose. Meanwhile, shares on Wall Street also rebounded from recent slumps. China is also reportedly considering using its foreign reserves to increase its crude supplies. Read more on Chinese plans to buy oil. The Chinese Purchasing Managers' Index, used as gauge for of the health of the manufacturing sector, rose to 49.0 for February, up from 45.3 in January, data released Wednesday showed. The index had plunged to a record low of 38.8 in November. Read more on China's industrial data. However, there was more grim economic data from other parts of the world. In the United States, private-sector firms cut 697,000 jobs in February, according to the ADP employment index. In Australia, the economy contracted for the first time in eight years during the October through December period. Gross domestic product shrank 0.5% in the fourth quarter compared with the third, according to data released Wednesday. Read more on Australia's economic data. Also on the Nymex Wednesday, April reformulated gasoline rose 2.3% to $1.35 a gallon, and April heating oil gained 3% to $1.2145 a gallon. April natural gas futures fell 2.9% to $4.157 per million British thermal units. Supply data ahead The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release its closely watched data on petroleum inventories at 10:30 a.m. Eastern time Wednesday. Analysts expected a 2.2 million-barrel buildup in commercial supplies of crude oil, a Platts survey issued Monday showed. They also project a weekly decline of 600,000 barrels in gasoline inventories and a drop of 1.5 million barrels in distillate stocks, according to the survey. Refinery utilization is pegged at 81.4%, unchanged from the prior week. Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute reported that crude supplies fell by 463,000 barrels in the week ended Feb. 27. The API also said that gasoline supplies dropped by 642,000 barrels, while distillate stocks rose by 1.64 million barrels. The Washington-based API, a trade association of the oil and natural gas industry, calculates inventories based on criteria different from those used by the EIA. Energy traders were also watching for what might come next from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Libya's top OPEC official, Shokri Ghanem, said Tuesday that there is still excess crude in the world oil market which the cartel needs to remove either through better compliance with already announced cuts or through a new output reduction, Reuters reported. The oil cartel has already announced a reduction in output of 4.2 million barrels a day since September, equivalent to about 5% of global oil demand. OPEC members will meet on March 15 in Vienna. OPEC's decision will depend on where oil prices are in two weeks, said Sucden's Khamar. "If prices remain around $40 or lower, then a supply cut of at least 500,000 barrels is likely, whereas if prices surge and are trading around the $50 mark, then OPEC may be more hesitant to cut further amid the risk of putting further burden on an already fragile global economy," Khamar said in a research note.

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