Brent oil price near $79 as China oil demand rises

Brent oil prices open higher on Monday nearing the $79 mark as the latest data from China confirms that Chinese oil demand is still rising, as Chinese oil refiners raised processing runs by over seven percent.

In London, Brent crude oil futures for October 2010 delivery was trading at $78.77 a barrel, 08.00 GMT on the ICE Futures Exchange, while WTI oil futures surged over a dollar in early trading.

China Data for Oil Demand Supports Higher Oil Prices

“It’s that optimism in the market driving oil prices higher. The data out of China was quite supportive. The whole world is looking for a means to create confidence. As result of that being created you’ll see more oil demand, or an expectation for more consumption of oil.” said Jonathan Barratt, managing director at Commodity Broking Services in Sydney.

China’s crude oil processing climbed to 34.7 million metric tons in August 2010 from a year earlier, China Mainland Market Research said today. That’s about 8.2 million barrels a day. Processing reached 35.28 million tons in July.

Brent oil prices rose 0.9 percent, to settle last week’s trading at $78.16 a barrel. The October contract for Brent expires on September 15th.