REFILE-Oil prices rise as new virus cases slow, easing Chinese demand concerns

(Refiles to correct GMT conversion in last paragraph to 1530
not 1430)
SEOUL, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose for a second day
on Wednesday amid preliminary signs that new coronavirus cases
are slowing in China, easing concerns over the demand impact
from the disease in the world's second-largest oil consumer.
Brent crude LCOc1 was up 73 cents, or 1.3%, at $54.75 per
barrel at 0137 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) CLc1
rose 46 cents, or 0.9%, to $50.39.
According to data through Monday, the growth rate of new
coronavirus cases in China has slowed to the lowest since Jan.
31.
Bans on travel to and from China and on the movement of
goods inside the country have cut fuel usage. The two biggest
Chinese refiners have said they will reduce their processing by
about 940,000 barrels per day (bpd) as a result of the
consumption drop, or about 7% of their 2019 processing runs.
"Concern over weak demand in China is forcing many producers
to look for alternatives," ANZ Research said in a note.
"Companies such as Vitol, Shell and Litasco have been preparing
to hire supertankers to store crude that would be otherwise
destined for China."
China's senior medical advisor said on Tuesday the outbreak
may be over by April.
The demand concerns from the outbreak pushed Brent and WTI
to their lowest in 13 months on Monday. Both benchmarks are down
more than 20% from highs reached in January.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Tuesday
cut its global oil demand growth forecast for this year by
310,000 bpd as the virus outbreak crimps oil consumption in
China, the world's second-largest economy.
On the supply side, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) and its allies including Russia,known as OPEC+,
recommended a further cut of 600,000 bpd last week to stem the
oil price fall.
However, Russia has been hesitant to commit to the
additional cut, while Saudi Arabia wanted global major oil
producers to agree a quick oil supply cut. U.S. crude inventories rose by 6 million barrels in the week
to Feb. 7 to 438.9 million barrels, beating analysts'
expectations for an increase of 3 million barrels, data from
industry group the American Petroleum Institute showed late on
Tuesday. API/S
Official EIA data is due on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. EDT