Oil Rises After Russia Says It May Work With OPEC on Output Cut

By Nesa Subrahmaniyan and Christian Schmollinger

Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose in New York after Russia, the world's second-largest exporter, said it may coordinate production cuts with OPEC to shore up prices.

Ministers from the 13-nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries are scheduled to meet on Nov. 29 in Cairo before another summit on Dec. 17 in Algeria. Russia will work with OPEC to defend its interests and an output cut won't be ruled out, Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said yesterday.

``Russia is being more cooperative like they were about 10 years ago and it would be bullish if they cut output along with OPEC,'' said Anthony Nunan, assistant general manager for risk management at Mitsubishi Corp. in Tokyo. ``It's already expected OPEC will cut, but the unknown is the depth of it.''

Crude for January delivery rose as much 53 cents, or 1 percent, to $51.30 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It traded at $51 at 3:40 p.m. Singapore time. Yesterday, the contract declined $3.73, or 6.8 percent, to settle at $50.77 a barrel. Futures have dropped 65 percent since reaching a record $147.27 on July 11.

OPEC, which controls more than 40 percent of world oil supply, has already cut production as crude prices fell to a third of their July peak. Slowing global demand growth has left a 1 million-barrel-a-day oversupply that needs to be removed by the end of the year, Venezuela's oil minister, Rafael Ramirez, said on Nov. 23.

Russia, the largest crude exporter after Saudi Arabia, is struggling to keep production at current levels as older fields mature and credit for new projects dries up.

$50 Level

``The slight rise is in line with talk about the coordination between Russia and OPEC, but there is still quite a bit of skepticism,'' said Victor Shum, senior principal at Purvin & Gertz Inc. in Singapore. ``In the near term, oil futures seem to want to consolidate around the $50 level.''

Oil fell more than $3 a barrel yesterday as the U.S. economy shrank in the third quarter, faster than previously estimated. U.S. gross domestic product contracted at a 0.5 percent annual pace over the period, the most since the 2001 recession, the Commerce Department reported. Consumer spending in the world's largest energy user fell by the most in almost three decades, the department said.

New measures by the Federal Reserve to unfreeze credit for homebuyers, consumers and small businesses, committing as much as $800 billion, boosted equities on Wall Street yesterday.

`Bullish' Government Steps

The central bank will purchase as much as $600 billion of debt issued or backed by government-chartered housing-finance companies. It will also set up a $200 billion program to support consumer and small-business loans, the Fed said in statements yesterday in Washington.

``Government efforts to revive the economy are considered as bullish these days for oil,'' Mitsubishi's Nunan said.

A report today will probably show U.S. crude-oil supplies rose 1 million barrels last week, according to a Bloomberg News survey. Fuel demand during the four weeks ended Nov. 14 was down 7 percent from a year earlier, the department said last week.

Gasoline inventories probably increased 500,000 barrels from 198.6 million barrels the week before, according to the median of 15 responses in the survey.

Analysts were split over whether stockpiles of distillate fuel, a category that includes heating oil and diesel, rose or fell.

``One would think that a distillate draw would help support prices, but that's normal this time of year and the market will simply brush it aside,'' said Purvin & Gertz's Shum. ``The overall sentiment is still bearish.''

The department is scheduled to release its weekly report at 10:35 a.m. today in Washington.

Brent crude oil for January settlement rose as much as 52 cents, or 1 percent, to $50.87 a barrel, and traded at $50.48 at 3:40 p.m. Singapore time on London's ICE Futures Europe exchange. Yesterday, the contract dropped $3.58, or 6.6 percent, to settle at $50.35 a barrel.

To contact the reporters on this story: Nesa Subrahmaniyan in Singapore at nesas@bloomberg.net; Christian Schmollinger in Singapore at christian.s@bloomberg.net.