Mubasher: Oil prices rose on Thursday after Chinese imports were on course to register record levels, but gains were capped as the US production hit an all-time high.

By 7:17 am GMT, US Nymex crude futures rose 0.3% to $61.83 per barrel (pb) from their last close, while global benchmark Brent futures went up 0.2% to $72.20 pb.

China’s oil imports surged 32% year-on-year to 40.80 million tonnes or 9.61 million barrels per day (bpd) last October, climbing from 9.05 million in the prior month and the daily record of 9.6 million bpd seen in April, according to data from the General Administration of Customs.

Moreover, imports rose 8.1% on year to 377.16 million or 9.06 million bpd over the first 10 months of this year.

However, US crude output hit 11.6 million bpd in the week ended 2 November, marking a threefold rise from the decade trough, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) data showed on Wednesday.

As this made the US the world’s largest oil producer, more supply is set to come, as the EIA expected output to break through 12 million bpd by mid-2019 on the back of rising oil shale production.

Meanwhile, US crude stockpiles jumped by 5.8 million barrels during the week to 431.79 million barrels, the EIA said.

In addition, capping price gains was rising production in many other countries, like Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Brazil, triggering concerns of a return of market glut which supressed oil prices between 2014 and 2017.

With sufficient supplies in market as sanctions against Iran in place, rumblings were prompted among members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) that renewed supply restraints may be required next year to prevent oversupply.

“OPEC and Russia may use cuts to support $70 per barrel,” Saxo Bank commodity strategy head Ole Hansen told Thomson Reuters.