West Texas Intermediate oil rose from a two-week low after stronger-than-expected Chinese trade data bolstered the economic outlook for the world’s second-biggest crude user. London-traded Brent’s premium to WTI expanded an eighth day to the widest in more than a month. Futures advanced as much as 0.4 percent in New York, trimming the first weekly decline in nine. China’s exports climbed 25 percent in January from a year earlier, customs figures showed. That beat the 17.5 percent median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. Crude imports increased to the highest level in eight months. Oil markets will “remain tight� in the first quarter, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. “This is the strongest showing of China’s export growth since last April and bodes well for China’s demand growth for energy,� said Gordon Kwan, the head of energy research at Mirae Asset Securities Ltd. in Hong Kong who predicts Brent may rise as high as $120 a barrel in coming days. “We continue to forecast a sustained high oil price.� Crude for March delivery gained as much as 35 cents to $96.18 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $96.07 at 1:58 p.m. Singapore time. The volume of all futures traded was in line with the 100-day average. The contract slid 79 cents to $95.83 yesterday, the lowest since Jan. 23. Prices are down 1.7 percent this week, after advancing 14 percent over the prior eight weeks. Brent for March settlement climbed 57 cents to $117.81 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange, advancing for a fourth day. Volume was almost four times as high as the 100-day average. The European benchmark grade was at a premium of $21.74 to WTI futures, expanding for the eighth day. It closed yesterday at $21.41, the widest since Dec. 14. China Trade China bought 24.87 million metric tons of crude more than it exported last month, according to data published today on the website of the Beijing-based General Administration of Customs. That’s equivalent to 5.88 million barrels a day, the most since May, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Brent’s advance to more than $117 a barrel has been driven by improving fundamentals rather than increasing risk premium, Stefan Wieler, an analyst with Goldman Sachs in New York, said in a report dated yesterday. The oil market will “remain tight� through the first quarter of 2013, he said. The gap between WTI and Brent has grown since Enterprise Product Partners LP said Jan. 31 that capacity will be limited until late 2013 on its Seaway pipeline to the Gulf Coast from Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for New York crude. Saudi Output Brent extended gains yesterday as a Persian Gulf official said Saudi Arabia produced 9.05 million barrels a day of crude in January, near the prior month’s level when output was the lowest in 20 months. Saudi Arabia still supplied 9.26 million barrels a day to the market, compared with 9.15 million the previous month, said the official with knowledge of the country’s oil policy who spoke on condition of anonymity. The 210,000-barrel difference between supply and production in January was made up by deliveries from inventories, he said. Oil may fall next week as technical indicators signal that prices may have risen too quickly to be sustainable and as equities come under downward pressure, a Bloomberg survey showed. Eighteen of 37 analysts and traders, or 49 percent, forecast crude will decline through Feb. 15. Twelve respondents, or 32 percent, predicted an increase and seven forecast little change. Last week, 42 percent projected a gain. European Diesel The relative-strength index of front-month oil futures rose above 74 at settlement on Jan. 30, the highest level since Feb. 24, 2012. The RSI was at 58 today. Weakening demand and surging U.S. exports are whipsawing Mediterranean producers of diesel, just as they boost capacity at the fastest rate in five years. Ultra low-sulfur diesel’s premium to gasoil on the ICE Futures Europe sank to $3 a metric ton on Feb. 5, the smallest gap since November 2009, and was at $4.50 yesterday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It averaged $26.44 last year. Total SA and Hellenic Petroleum SA were among companies from Portugal to Greece that added about 130,000 barrels a day of so-called hydrocracking units last year, which increased Europe’s output of the fuel by about 9 percent. Capacity is growing just as the second European recession in four years reduces consumption. To contact the reporters on this story: Ben Sharples in Melbourne at bsharples@bloomberg.net; Ramsey Al-Rikabi in Singapore at ralrikabi@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alexander Kwiatkowski at akwiatkowsk2@bloomberg.net

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