Oil, Metals Rise as China Announces Economic Stimulus Package

By Mark Shenk

Nov. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil climbed more than $3 a barrel and metals rose after China announced a 4 trillion-yuan ($586 billion) stimulus package that may spur economic growth and consumption of raw materials.

China, the world's second-biggest oil consumer, said yesterday it will spend the money through 2010 on housing and infrastructure. China's plan sent global stock markets higher. Oil also gained after Saudi Aramco told Asian refiners it would cut December supplies.

``It looks like commodities, stock markets, everything in fact, is being supported by the Chinese move,'' said Tom Bentz, senior energy analyst at BNP Paribas in New York.

Crude oil for December delivery rose $3.02, or 5 percent, to $64.06 a barrel at 9:41 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices, which have tumbled 57 percent since reaching a record $147.27 on July 11, are down 32 percent from a year ago.

Copper futures for December delivery rose 13.3 cents, or 7.8 percent, to $1.83 a pound on the Comex division of Nymex. Gold futures for December delivery rose $25.80, or 3.5 percent, to $760 an ounce on the Comex division of Nymex.

Oil prices fell 10 percent last week as equities dropped, U.S. fuel stockpiles rose more than expected and the nation's unemployment rate climbed to a 14-year high.

The International Monetary Fund is forecasting that the economies of the U.S., Japan, Europe and the U.K. will all contract next year in their first simultaneous recession since World War II.

Chinese Growth

China's economy grew 9 percent in the third quarter, the slowest pace in five years, and export orders dropped to the lowest level since 2005. China will spend the equivalent of almost a fifth of its gross domestic product last year on infrastructure and encourage investments in machinery.

``Fears that Chinese demand would drop have been one of the big concerns in the past few weeks,'' said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research, in Winchester, Massachusetts. ``This move helps alleviate some of those fears.''

Brazil, Russia, India and China, the so-called BRIC nations, plan coordinated measures to increase trade and capital flows among their economies, Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said in an interview yesterday.

Saudi Aramco

Saudi Aramco, the world's biggest state oil company, will cut crude oil supplies in December to customers in Japan by about 5 percent to 6 percent below levels agreed to in annual contracts, a refinery official said.

The Dhahran, Saudi Arabia-based producer will reduce mostly supplies of its heavy crude oil, according to the official, who had received notices from the company and asked not to be identified because of confidentiality agreements.

``We grab onto every bit of information that helps us understand what the Saudis are up to because they tend to be secretive and are so important,'' Lynch said.

Saudi Arabia, the biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, and other members agreed on Oct. 24 to lower output quotas by 1.5 million barrels a day, the first cut in two years, after global demand fell.

``The news that Saudi Arabia is cutting shipments to Asia gives more credibility to the promised OPEC cutback,'' said Rick Mueller, director of oil markets at Energy Security Analysis Inc. in Wakefield, Massachusetts. ``This is a strong signal that substantial cuts are on the way.''

Brent crude oil for December settlement increased $3.28, or 5.7 percent, to $60.63 a barrel on London's ICE Futures Europe exchange.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Shenk in New York at mshenk1@bloomberg.net.