* Saudi Arabia to end voluntary additional cuts
* Libya's Sharara oilfield declares force majeure
* Goldman Sachs expects rally to run out of steam soon
* U.S. crude stocks surge in latest week -API
(Adds industry data on U.S. inventories)
By Stephanie Kelly
NEW YORK, June 9 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Tuesday, as
optimism about recent commitments from major oil producers to
curb production offset concerns that a resurgence in coronavirus
cases could hurt fuel demand.
Brent crude LCOc1 rose 38 cents, or 0.9%, to settle at
$41.18 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) CLc1 rose
75 cents, or 2%, to end at $38.94 a barrel.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries,
Russia and other producers, a group known as OPEC+, on Saturday
agreed to extend record cuts of 9.7 million barrels per day
(bpd) until the end of July.
However, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates
said they would not maintain supplemental reductions that amount
to more than a million barrels of daily supply. Supportive for the market, Libya said it declared force
majeure on some exports from its Sharara oilfield on Tuesday,
after production was briefly halted by an armed group just days
after output had resumed following a blockade that had lasted
months. "That has helped to mitigate any further falls. They were in
the process of restarting, which of course would have added to
the oversupply situation," said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow
Oil Associates in Houston.
Fuel demand has recovered from April's collapse brought on
by lockdowns to control the pandemic. Analysts have said,
however, that the oil market's rapid surge to more than $40 a
barrel may be banking an overly optimistic view of consumption.
The coronavirus has killed more than 400,000 people
worldwide, and the number of new daily cases hit a record on
Sunday as the pandemic has yet to peak in central America, the
World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday. Goldman Sachs raised its 2020 forecast for Brent to $40.40 a
barrel and WTI to $36 but warned that prices are likely to pull
back in the coming weeks because of demand uncertainty and
inventory overhang.
U.S. crude inventories have been growing as the pandemic
curbs demand. Crude inventories rose by 8.4 million barrels in
the week to June 5 to 539.4 million barrels, data from industry
group the American Petroleum Institute showed on Tuesday.
Analysts had expected a draw of 1.7 million barrels.
Official U.S. government data is due on Wednesday.