Oil climbed for a second day in New York on speculation that Europe’s steps to tame its debt crisis may sustain demand and sanctions against Syria will threaten Middle East stability. Futures rose as much as 1.8 percent after a 0.6 percent increase on Nov. 25. The International Monetary Fund is preparing a 600 billion-euro ($799 billion) loan for Italy in case the debt crisis worsens, Italian daily La Stampa reported without saying where it got the information. The Arab League’s imposition of sanctions on Syria over its crackdown on protests and Mexico’s closure of oil terminals also helped prices. “We’re seeing a risk-on session in Asia,� Ric Spooner, a chief analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney, said by telephone today, citing the IMF report. “The sanctions cause some people to elevate the risk premium of supply disruptions.� Crude oil for January delivery advanced as much as $1.77 to $98.54 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile and was at $98.21 at 3:20 p.m. Sydney time. It rose 60 cents to $96.77 on Nov. 25. Prices are 14 percent higher the past year. Brent oil for January settlement climbed 1.2 percent to $107.63 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark contract’s premium to West Texas Intermediate was at $9.43, compared with $9.63 on Nov. 25 and a record $27.88 on Oct. 14. European Union The IMF loan would give Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Monti 12 to 18 months to implement his reforms without having to refinance the country’s existing debt, La Stampa reported. The European Union accounted for 16 percent of world oil demand in 2010, according to BP Plc’s annual Statistical Review of World Energy. The U.S. consumed 19.1 million barrels a day, or 21 percent of the global total. The National Retail Federation said U.S. store sales during Thanksgiving climbed 16 percent to a record. Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, 46, is under economic and political pressure to end an eight-month crackdown against demonstrators. Oil soared to the highest level in more than two years in May as unrest in North Africa and the Middle East toppled leaders in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, where crude production was almost entirely stopped. Libyan Output Libyan output exceeded 750,000 barrels a day, and the country’s second-biggest refinery began operating at full capacity, the state-run National Oil Corp. said on its website yesterday. Output slipped to 45,000 barrels a day after the revolt against the former regime of Muammar Qaddafi. Petroleos Mexicanos, Latin America’s largest crude producer, closed the oil-export terminals of Cayo Arcas, Coatzacoalcos and Dos Bocas in the Gulf of Mexico due to adverse weather conditions, Mexico’s Merchant Marine said yesterday in its daily weather bulletin. Cayo Arcas is the Mexico City-based company’s largest export terminal, followed by Coatzacoalcos and Dos Bocas. 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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