Crude Oil Price Rises to Record $55.35 a Barrel as China’s Economy Expands

Crude oil futures rose to a record $55.35 a barrel in New York after the release of a report showing that the Chinese economy grew more than expected last quarter.

China’s economy expanded 9.1 percent in the third quarter, faster than the 8.9 percent projected in a Bloomberg survey. Chinese oil demand is expected to jump 15 percent to 6.3 million barrels a day this year, according to the International Energy Agency. Prices have also risen on concern that U.S. stockpiles of heating oil are insufficient to meet winter demand.

“China’s growth rate is still strong and the numbers point to a continuing uptrend in demand,” said Tom Bentz, an oil broker at BNP Paribas Commodity Futures Inc. in New York. “We are going into the winter heating season with inventories at the lower end of where we would like them to be.”

Crude oil for December delivery rose 78 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $55.25 a barrel at 10:40 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices reached $55.35, the highest since futures began trading in 1983. Oil futures were 85 percent higher than a year earlier and the December contract has jumped 2.4 percent this week.

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