UPDATE 8-Oil rises nearly 2% as robust China trade data offsets returning supply

* China Sept crude imports up 5.5% mth/mth to 11.8 million
bpd
* Pandemic could delay energy demand recovery to 2025 -IEA
* OPEC cuts 2021 oil demand forecast again as virus cases
rise
* UAE says OPEC+ plans to ease oil cuts from Jan as agreed

(Updates to settlement)
By Devika Krishna Kumar
NEW YORK, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Oil prices rebounded on
Tuesday, supported by robust economic data from China that
offset returning supply in other regions but gains were capped
by forecasts for a slow recovery in global oil demand as
coronavirus cases rise.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 ended up 73 cents, or 1.8%, to
$42.45 a barrel while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude
CLc1 futures settled up 77 cents, or about 2%, to $40.20 a
barrel. On Monday, both benchmarks fell nearly 3%.
China, the world's top crude oil importer, took in 11.8
million barrels per day (bpd) of oil in September, up 5.5% from
August and up 17.5% from a year earlier, but still below the
record high level of 12.94 mln bpd in June, customs data showed.
"Oil prices, which suffered quite a blow the previous day,
were looking for a bright spot and Tuesday offered just that,"
said Rystad Energy's senior oil markets analyst Paola
Rodriguez-Masiu.
"We find that China's record haul of crude growth is poised
to cease as independent refineries have nearly fully utilized
their state-issued import quotas and companies struggle with
extremely high crude inventories. Therefore, despite the initial
enthusiasm, we find that the uptick in oil prices today is
unjustified."
The International Energy Agency (IEA) - which advises
Western governments on energy policy - said in its World Energy
Outlook that in its central scenario a vaccine and therapeutics
could mean the global economy rebounds in 2021 and energy demand
recovers by 2023. But under a "delayed recovery scenario," it said the energy
demand recovery is pushed back to 2025.
"The era of global oil demand growth will come to an end
within the next 10 years, but in the absence in a large shift in
government policies, I don't see a clear sign of a peak," IEA
chief Fatih Birol told Reuters.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
also forecast a slower demand recovery on Tuesday.
In a monthly report, it said oil demand will rise by 6.54
million bpd next year to 96.84 million bpd, 80,000 bpd less than
expected a month ago. Social restrictions were being tightened in Britain and the
Czech Republic to battle rising cases of COVID-19, and French
Prime Minister Jean Castex said he could not rule out local
lockdowns.
On the supply side, workers have been returning to U.S. Gulf
of Mexico platforms after Hurricane Delta and Norwegian workers
to offshore rigs after ending a strike.
The energy minister from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said
on Tuesday that OPEC+ oil producers will stick to their plans to
taper oil production cuts from January. OPEC member Libya on Sunday also lifted force majeure at its
Sharara oilfield.
Libya's total output on Monday was expected to hit 355,000
bpd while a full return of the 300,000 bpd Sharara field would
nearly double that. "For prices to rise further, we think elevated spare
production capacity among OPEC+ needs to be reduced. This is why
we describe the oil market as artificially, and not
structurally, tight at present. The group can react easily to
any large production disruption by using its spare production
capacity to ramp up production in case prices spike," UBS
analysts said in a note.
Weekly U.S. oil inventory data is delayed a day due to
Monday's Columbus Day federal holiday.