By Nicole Jao
(Reuters) – Oil prices rose slightly early on Wednesday, with market participants expecting to see demand rising in China next year after Beijing announced a looser monetary policy to stimulate economic growth.
Brent crude futures gained 10 cents, or 0.14%, to $72.29 a barrel by 0131 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 9 cents, or 0.13%, to $68.68.
China said on Monday it would adopt “appropriately loose” monetary policy in 2025 as Beijing tries to spur its economy with the first easing of its stance in 14 years.
Chinese crude imports also grew annually for the first time in seven months in November, up more than 14% from a year earlier.
China’s policy changes, however, “are unlikely to provide much support to prices till the Trump 2.0 policies act, which can counter the bullish bias,” said Mukesh Sahdev, head of oil analysis at Rystad Energy.
“This (China’s changes) can only help prevent further downsides at best,” he said.
In the U.S., crude oil and fuel stocks rose last week, market sources said on Tuesday, citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday. [API/S]
Crude stocks rose by 499,000 barrels in the week ended on Dec. 6, the sources said on condition of anonymity. Gasoline inventories rose by 2.85 million barrels, and distillate stocks rose by 2.45 million barrels, they said.
Official data on oil stocks from the U.S. Energy Information Administration is due on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. ET (1530 GMT). Analysts polled by Reuters expect a 900,000-barrel decline in crude and a 1.7 million-barrel increase in gasoline.
(Reporting by Nicole Jao in New York; Editing by Tom Hogue)
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