Oil steadies as Saudi pushes for further supply cuts (reuters.com)

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Futures climbed 1.4 percent in New York, paring this week’s loss to 1.5 percent. China’s crude oil imports rebounded from a one-year low to near a record amid signs the nation’s commercial stockpiles shrank by the most in almost eight years. U.S. crude output increased to a record last week, while motor fuel inventories rose more than double analysts’ forecasts, government data showed Wednesday. U.S. crude production expanded for a seventh week to 9.7 million barrels a day, the highest level in weekly data compiled by the Energy Information Administration since 1983. Gasoline inventories rose by 6.78 million barrels last week, the biggest gain since January. Click Read More below for additional information.

Futures in New York added as much as 1.6 percent after rising 1.3 percent Monday. Saudi Arabia will cap shipments at 6.6 million barrels a day in August, 1 million lower than a year earlier, said Energy and Industry Minister Khalid Al-Falih. In the U.S., Halliburton Co. and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. signaled that the investment in shale fields may finally be succumbing to the oil price slump. “Yesterday’s Saudi decision to cut exports still lingers in the market,” said Bjarne Schieldrop, chief analyst for commodities at SEB Markets. The headlines that the U.S. shale oil boom is easing are also driving futures higher, he said. Click Read More below for more of the story.