UPDATE 8-Oil rises nearly 1% on hopes demand will rebound from coronavirus effect

* Oil prices set for first weekly increase in six
* Investors eye potential OPEC+ cuts to limit supply surplus
* Oil glut, stronger rouble strengthen case for Russia to
cut
* U.S. drillers add oil rigs for second week in row -Baker
Hughes

(Updates prices, adds U.S. rig count data)
By Stephanie Kelly
NEW YORK, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Friday, on
track for their first weekly gain since early January as
investors bet the economic impact of the coronavirus would be
short-lived and hoped for further Chinese central bank stimulus
to tackle any slowdown.
Brent crude LCOc1 rose 50 cents, or 0.9%, to $56.84 a
barrel by 1:05 p.m. EST (1805 GMT). It has risen 4.4% since last
Friday, its first weekly increase in six weeks.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) CLc1 rose 35 cents, or
0.7%, to $51.77 a barrel. It was set for a weekly gain of 2.9%.
"The massive liquidation process that drove prices sharply
lower last month has likely been completed and is being replaced
by accumulation as well as short-covering from speculators who
have recently entered the market," Jim Ritterbusch, president of
Ritterbusch and Associates, said in a note.
Brent has fallen 15% since the beginning of the year in part
due to worries the coronavirus outbreak would stunt the global
economy. More than 1,380 people have died from the virus in
China. However, market sentiment improved as factories in China
started to reopen and the government eased monetary policy in
the world's second largest economy.
The World Health Organization also noted the big jump in
China's reported cases did not necessarily mean a wider epidemic
but reflected a decision to reclassify a backlog of suspected
cases. "Our baseline thesis remains that oil demand destruction
remains largely a China story and has yet to spill over to
impact global demand," said Helima Croft, head of commodity
strategy at Citadel Magnus.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) said first-quarter oil
demand was set to fall versus a year earlier for the first time
since the financial crisis in 2009 because of the outbreak.
In response to the demand slump, the Organization of the
Petroleum Exporting Countries and allied producers, a grouping
known as OPEC+, are considering deepening production cuts.
The Kremlin has said no decision has been taken yet on
whether Russia agrees to further output curbs. But oil sources
said a growing oil glut in Russia and the promise of a flood of
dollars from the sale of a leading bank are strengthening the
case for Russia to cut output. UBS investment bank said in a note that commodity demand
concerns were likely to linger and "the asset class should
display a fair bit of volatility in the coming weeks."
"We assume China's economic activity as well as commodity
demand will recover" from the second quarter, it said.
In the United States, energy firms increased oil rigs for a
second week in a row, adding two oil rigs in this week, bringing
the total count to 678, energy services firm Baker Hughes Co
BRK.N said. RIG-OL-USA-BHI

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OPEC crude supply https://tmsnrt.rs/2Sp6c6Y
Chinese, World Oil Demand Growth, y-o-y https://tmsnrt.rs/31N6jMY
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