UPDATE 4-Oil rises 2% after U.S. inventory data, Russian assurances

* U.S. crude stocks rise even as refiners boost runs -EIA
* Russia to continue cooperation with OPEC to keep market
balanced
* U.S. angers China after Senate passes Hong Kong rights
bill

(New throughout; updates prices, market activity and comments;
changes byline and dateline from LONDON)
By Laila Kearney
NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose more than 2% on
Wednesday after a better-than-expected U.S. crude inventories
report and as Russia said it would continue its cooperation with
OPEC to keep the global oil market balanced.
Brent crude LCOc1 futures were up $1.42, or 2.3%, to
$62.33 a barrel by 11:11 a.m. EST (1611 GMT), while West Texas
Intermediate crude CLc1 futures gained $1.41, or 2.6%, to
$56.62 a barrel.
U.S. crude oil stocks grew by 1.4 million barrels last week,
the Energy Information Administration said, compared with
analysts' expectations for 1.5 million-barrel build and the 6
million-barrel build reported by the American Petroleum
Institute late Tuesday. API/S EIA/S
Refinery runs rose 519,000 barrels per day and crude in
storage at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub for WTI fell 2.3
million barrels, EIA said
"The Cushing inventory being down might be providing
support," said Ryan Kaup, a commodities broker at CHS Hedging in
Chicago. Along with refinery runs being higher, eventually those
numbers are going to start to come down on crude inventory."
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that
Russia and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
(OPEC) have 'a common goal' of keeping the oil market balanced
and predictable, and Moscow will continue cooperation under the
global supply curbs deal. OPEC meets on Dec. 5 in Vienna, followed by talks with a
group of other exporters, including Russia, known as OPEC+.
Escalating Iran-related tensions also supported prices.
The U.S. aircraft carrier strike group Abraham Lincoln on
Tuesday sailed through the vital Strait of Hormuz through which
a fifth of the world's oil flows as leaders in Iran blamed days
of protests over fuel price hikes on foreign enemies.
Tensions in the Gulf have risen since attacks on oil tankers
this summer, including off the coast of the United Arab
Emirates, and a major attack on key Saudi energy plants which
briefly crippled from the world's top oil exporter.
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday claimed victory
over protests which have left scores reported dead. "These events contribute to a sense of increasing tensions
in the Middle East and explain why we have an uptick in the oil
price today," said SEB chief commodities analyst Bjarne
Schieldrop.
The tariff war between the United States and China kept oil
from moving higher. U.S. crude demand has slowed during the
protracted trade war with China, and hopes for an end to the
dispute in the signing of a so-called Phase One agreement have
dimmed amid disagreements over the removal of tariffs.

China on Wednesday condemned legislation passed by the U.S.
Senate aimed at protecting human rights in Hong Kong amid a
crackdown on a pro-democracy protest movement.