Oil climbed in New York, trimming the first weekly decline in three, as investors bet signs of an economic recovery in the U.S. and Europe’s steps to contain in its debt crisis mean demand for raw materials may increase. Futures gained as much as 0.5 percent after a U.S. manufacturing gauge unexpectedly expanded and European governments discussed deploying $1.3 trillion in funds to tackle the sovereign debt crisis. The death of former Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi will expedite efforts to revive crude output to normal levels, the state-run National Oil Corp. said. Crude oil for December delivery rose as much as 43 cents to $86.50 a barrel and was at $86.36, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 9:41 a.m. Sydney time. The contract yesterday fell 0.3 percent to $86.07. Front-month futures are down 0.5 percent this week and 5.5 percent lower this year. Brent oil for December settlement advanced $1.37, or 1.3 percent, to $109.76 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark contract closed at a premium of $23.69 to New York crude, compared with a record of $27.88 on Oct. 14. U.S. crude inventories fell to their five-year seasonal average for the first time in more than a year, signaling the end of a glut in the world’s largest oil consumer. Stockpiles dropped to 332.9 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 14, the Energy Department said in an Oct. 19 report, just above a five- year rolling mean of 332.2 million. 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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