LONDON, Nov. 1 (Reuters) – Oil prices rose sharply on Monday as expectations of strong demand and the belief that a key producer group won’t turn on the taps too quickly helped reverse initial losses caused by the release of fuel reserves by China, the world’s largest consumer of energy.

Brent crude futures rose $ 1.22, or 1.5%, to $ 84.94 a barrel at 1:39 p.m. GMT, after hitting a low of $ 83.03 in the session.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained $ 1.09, or 1.3%, to $ 84.66, after falling to $ 82.74 earlier.

“The fundamentals have not changed and the oil market will remain tight in the short term,” said Stephen Brennock of the oil brokerage firm PVM Oil.

Reuters poll has shown oil prices are expected to hold near $ 80 by year-end as tight supplies and higher gas bills encourage a switch to crude for use as production fuel electricity. Read more

Oil hit multi-year highs last week, helped by a rebound in post-pandemic demand and by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its Russia-led allies, or OPEC +, sticking to increases in Gradual monthly production of 400,000 barrels per day (bpd), despite calls for more oil from major consumers.

Analysts expect OPEC + to stick to that figure at its November 4 meeting, with members from Kuwait and Iraq having expressed support in recent days, saying these volumes were adequate. Read more

US President Joe Biden on Saturday urged major G20 energy-producing countries with slack capacity to step up production to ensure a stronger global economic recovery as part of a broad-based effort to put pressure on OPEC + to increase supplies. Read more

Prices have risen despite the fact that China has said in a rare official statement that it has released reserves of gasoline and diesel to increase market supply and support price stability in some regions. Read more

Spurred on by rising oil prices, U.S. energy companies added oil and gas rigs for a 15th consecutive month in October, raising them to their highest since April 2020, energy services firm Baker Hughes Co said on Friday. (BKR.N). Read more

Exxon (XOM.N) and Chevron (CVX.N) are looking to add drilling rigs to the Permian shale basin after sharply cutting crews and production in the region last year, the officials said on Friday. companies. Read more

Additional reporting by Yuka Obayashi in Tokyo Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Mark Potter

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