* AlEqtisadiah from Riyadh
Oil prices jumped during trading yesterday breaching the level of $ 58 a barrel, after China said that it would hold trade talks with the United States, while China's service sector growth survey showed in December, with crude also receiving signs of a drop in supplies.
According to "Reuters", Global Brent crude futures rose by more than $ 2 to $ 58.05 a barrel at a session high.
The US benchmark WTI futures contract rose 1.58 dollars to 48.67 dollars a barrel.
A survey showed that the Chinese services sector continued to grow strongly in December, contrasting pessimistic economic data.
Brent crude and US crude gained strong gains in the first week of 2019 trading, despite growing fears that a trade war between China and the United States could lead to a global economic slowdown.
The US Energy Information Administration said yesterday, "The crude oil stocks did not change a little last week, but gasoline stocks and distillates registered a jump."
Crude stocks rose seven thousand barrels in the week ending December 28, compared to analysts' expectations of a 3.1-million-barrel decline.
The Energy Information Administration data showed crude refinery consumption rose by 410,000 barrels per day, while operating rates increased 2.1 percentage points.
Gasoline stocks jumped 6.9 million barrels, compared to analysts' expectations of a 2-million-barrel increase.
Data from the Energy Information Administration showed distillate stocks, including diesel and heating oil, which rose 9.5 million barrels compared to expectations of an increase of 1.6 million barrels.
According to the Energy Information Administration, crude oil inventories at the delivery center in Cushing, Oklahoma, rose by 641,000 barrels.
US net oil imports last week rose 468,000 bpd to 5.16 million bpd.
US natural gas inventories fell last week, but below analysts' expectations.
The data showed that US natural gas inventories fell by 20 billion cubic feet in the week ending December 28 to 2705 billion cubic feet.
Analysts had forecast that US natural gas inventories would drop 43 billion cubic feet in the past week.
On an annual basis, US natural gas inventories fell 450 billion cubic feet last week compared to the same period last year.
Natural gas futures for February delivery rose 1.4 percent to $ 2.99 per million British thermal units.
A survey conducted by "Reuters" showed that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) recorded in December the largest decline in oil production in about two years.
Saudi Arabia, the world's largest crude exporter, has begun to implement an early supply reduction agreement before it actually came into existence, while Iran and Libya have seen involuntary declines.
OPEC's 15-member states pumped 32.68 million bpd last month.
As the survey showed yesterday, a drop of 460 thousand barrels per day from November 2018, which is the biggest monthly decline since January 2017.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies reached a deal last month to cut production.
OPEC and its independent partners, led by Russia, agreed at the end of a meeting in Vienna in December to cut the total production of the countries concerned with 1.2 million barrels a day in order to reduce the decline in oil prices.
The reduction will be distributed on the basis of 800 thousand barrels per day for OPEC members, and 400,000 barrels per day for countries outside the Organization.
1.2 million barrels per day represent just over 1 per cent of world oil production.
The reduction aims to curb price declines, which have fallen by about 30 per cent since October, as well as market equilibrium.
Venezuela's exports to OPEC fell to its lowest level in 28 years, and output fell to the lowest level since the 1940s.
According to the Bloomberg agency that the data released by the Ministry of Oil in Venezuela indicates that Caracas exports last year reached 1.245 million barrels per day, the lowest level since 1990.
Venezuela's output has fallen by half over the past five years to 1.346 million bpd in 2018.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has put in place a plan of action for 2019 to meet the broad challenges in order to overcome uncertainty in the market and reach the stage of success in reducing the abundance of oil supply and achieve balance of markets.
