London/Singapore — Oil prices firmed on Friday as strong Chinese oil import data and turmoil in the Middle East boosted bulls in a market that has already shown signs of re-balancing after years of excess. Brent was at $57.23 at 9.14am GMT, up 98c. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was at $51.41 a barrel, up 81c from its last settlement. The contracts were on track for weekly gains of more than 2% and 4%, respectively. Chinese oil imports hit 9-million barrels per day (bpd) in September, data showed on Friday. Imports averaged 8.5-million bpd between January and September, solidifying China’s position as the world’s biggest oil importer. "We woke up with the strong data from China. That’s on the supportive side," said Olivier Jakob, MD of PetroMatrix. China’s huge imports have been strongly driven by purchases for its strategic petroleum reserves (SPR). The nation has spent about $24bn on building its crude reserves since 2015 and now holds about 850-million barrels of oil in i...
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