WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Oil edged higher to hover near a five-week high on Tuesday but headed for a small annual loss amid thin year-end trading due to demand concerns in top consuming countries.
Benchmark Brent crude futures climbed 0.6 percent to $74.41 in European trade while WTI crude futures were up 0.8 percent at $71.52.
Oil pushed higher at the end of the year after official data showed China's manufacturing activity expanded for the third month in a row in December.
Also, services activity expanded at the fastest pace in nine months on the back of recent stimulus measures.
Reuters reported last week that Chinese authorities have agreed to issue a record 3 trillion yuan ($411 billion) in special treasury bonds in 2025 to revive growth.
Last week, the World Bank raised its forecast for China's economic growth in 2024 and 2025, reflecting the effect of recent policy easing and near-term export strength.
Also, in its latest Asian Development Outlook released in December, the Asian Development Bank maintained its previous growth forecasts for China at 4.8 percent for 2024.
Crude oil prices were also supported by a sharp surge in natural gas prices after forecast of a colder-than-normal weather across the Eastern and Mideast regions of the U.S.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) latest weekly natural gas storage report, working gas in storage was 3,529 billion cubic feet as of Friday, December 20, 2024, representing a net decrease of 93 billion cubic feet from the previous week.
The EIA's next weekly natural gas storage report is scheduled to be released on January 3.
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