Oil rose for a second day in New York on speculation European governments will tame the sovereign-debt crisis, tempering a slowdown in the region’s economy and demand for raw materials. Futures gained as much as 2.5 percent, trimming the biggest quarterly decline since the global financial crisis in 2008. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner predicted Europe will intensify efforts to contain its debt problems after being pressured at international meetings in Washington last week. The European Union accounted for 16 percent of global oil consumption last year, according to BP Plc’s annual Statistical Review of World Energy. “If there’s a credible plan that is good enough and certain enough to restore reasonable confidence to the world, then a lot of things are going to look cheap at current prices and that probably includes oil,” said Ric Spooner, a chief market analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney. Crude for November delivery climbed as much as $2 to $82.24 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $81.65 at 1:06 p.m. Singapore time. Oil has dropped 14 percent from the end of June, the biggest quarterly loss since the three months ended December 2008. Prices are down 8 percent this month and 11 percent this year. London Brent Brent futures for November settlement on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange rose as much as $1.64, or 1.6 percent, to $105.58 a barrel. The European benchmark contract is down 7 percent this quarter. It traded at a premium of $23.38 to U.S. futures, down from a record $26.87 on Sept. 6. “Crude benchmarks were propped up by the rally in equity markets and a softer U.S. dollar,” Mark Pervan, head of commodity research at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Melbourne, said in a note today. “Uncertainty over Europe continued to be a drag on prices, but with most of the bad news already priced in, oil markets could stabilize after posting steep declines.” Geithner said in a television interview on ABC that comments by European leaders at the annual International Monetary Fund meetings foreshadowed an “escalation” in measures to contain the debt crisis. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rallied 2.3 percent in New York yesterday. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added as much as 3.1 percent in Tokyo, its first advance in four days. The Dollar Index fell for a second day, increasing the appeal of commodities priced in the U.S. currency. Bollinger Support Oil in New York has technical support around $80.20 a barrel, after settling above its lower Bollinger Band yesterday, based on data compiled by Bloomberg. Buy orders tend to be clustered near chart-support levels. U.S. crude stockpiles probably climbed 2.2 million barrels in the week to Sept. 23 as demand weakened in the world’s largest oil-consuming nation, according to the median estimate of 11 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News before an Energy Department report tomorrow. Gasoline inventories are expected to have risen 1 million barrels to the highest in two months, the survey showed. To contact the reporter on this story: Ben Sharples in Melbourne at bsharples@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alexander Kwiatkowski in Singapore at akwiatkowsk2@bloomberg.net

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