Oil rises after Chinese data on crude imports

Oil drilling rigs

Oil rose today, Dec. 7, despite data showing a decline in Chinese imports of crude in November, as well as a drop in US crude inventories over the past week.

International benchmark Brent crude was trading up 0.35% at $74.56 a barrel, at 09:05 am Makkah time. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 0.36% to $69.63 a barrel.

Data from the General Administration of Chinese Customs released today showed that Beijing's crude oil imports declined by 9.2% year-on-year to 42.44 million metric tons in November. The average daily rate of imports reached 10.33 million barrels in November, which is the lowest daily rate since July.

Oil inventories in the US fell by 4.6 million barrels last week, compared to expectations for a decline of 1.3 million barrels, while gasoline inventories increased by 5.4 million barrels during the same period, according to US Energy Information Administration.