Oil up as China trade, US earnings show recovery

The price of oil rose to above $94 a barrel, propelled by a rebound in China's trade growth and an encouraging start to the U.S. corporate earnings season.

In Europe, benchmark crude for February delivery was up $1.04 to $94.14 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract slipped 5 cents to end at $93.10 per barrel in New York.

Current data released showed China's export growth in December more than quadrupled from the previous month's level to 14 percent. Imports rose 6 percent, after failing to grow at all in November, in a sign of increasing domestic demand.

Analysts also pointed to an 8 percent year-on-year rise in China's imports of crude oil in December and a 6.8 percent increase for all of 2012. The data was a boost for energy prices, since a pickup in economic activity in the world's second-largest economy could boost demand for oil.

In the U.S., corporate reporting season began with better-than-expected results. That helped lift stock markets and energy prices followed.

Brent crude, used to price international varieties of oil, was up 89 cents to $112.65 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

Brent crude falls on possibility of reserves release

Brent October crude futures fell 1 percent on talk of a possible release of U.S. strategic petroleum reserves and expectations that North Sea output will rebound after maintenance curbs production in September. Front-month U.S. September crude showed resilience, edging up in choppy trade, but gasoline and heating oil futures fell sharply in tandem with Brent's decline.

 After the Brent September contract expired, October Brent pared gains in post-settlement trading on news the White House was "dusting off old plans" for a potential release of strategic oil stocks. Brent bounced off lows on Friday when the head of the International Energy Agency said oil markets were currently well supplied and there was no reason for governments to release oil from strategic reserves. The bounce left Brent on pace for a third straight weekly gain, needing to settle above $112.95 a barrel, while U.S. crude closed in on a 3 percent weekly increase.

Escalating geopolitical tensions over Syria's civil conflict and the dispute over Iran's nuclear program, along with North Sea production curbs and hopes that central banks will provide more stimulus, had combined to pull Brent up since it settled at $89.23 a barrel on June 21.