By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Brent crude held steady above $111 a barrel on Tuesday, just off an 11-week high hit the previous day, on an improving demand outlook after recent strong global economic numbers and also worries of lower supplies.
Oil prices surged 1.6 percent on Monday after data showed U.S. factory activity expanded last month at its fastest pace in 2-1/2 years. That came after a report showing manufacturing growth in China, the world's No. 2 oil consumer, hit an 18-month high in November.
"Demand has been steadily growing in the United States, and China's economy is recovering. We could see a further increase in demand next year," said Yusuke Seta, a commodity sales manager at Newedge in Tokyo.
Brent crude for January delivery was unchanged at $111.45 a barrel at 0543 GMT, after settling $1.76 higher in the previous session. U.S. crude was up 25 cents at $94.07 a barrel, after settling up $1.10 on Monday.
Brent was also supported by news that two cargoes of Urals crude for December loading had been cancelled from the Baltic ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga, after Russia approved a boost of deliveries to Belarus.
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In Libya, where protesters have shut most oil fields and ports, production has risen to 224,000 barrels per day (bpd), from 172,000 bpd two weeks ago, the country's Deputy Oil Minister Omar Shakmak said in an interview.
However, exports are still a fraction of the 1.4 million bpd the country exported just five months ago, currently at 130,000 barrels bpd, Shakmak.
OPEC OUTPUT TARGET UNCHANGED?
Ministers from OPEC members Saudi Arabia and Algeria indicated on Monday that the oil cartel was likely to keep its production target of 30 million barrels per day unchanged for the first half of 2014 at a meeting in Vienna on Wednesday.
"The market is in the best situation it can be, demand is great, economic growth is improving," Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said.
Investors will also watch U.S. third-quarter GDP data due on Thursday and non-farm payrolls for November due Friday for clues on whether improvements in the world's biggest economy could prompt the U.S. Federal Reserve to announce tapering of its monetary stimulus at its meeting on December 17-18.
"Thursday's employment numbers may drive prices a bit higher, but I don't see Brent going above $113 in the coming days," said Seta. "Until the end of the year, I don't expect much upward or downward pressure."
In another important indicator of demand in the United States, commercial crude oil inventories were forecast to have dropped an average of 600,000 barrels in the week ended November 29, a Reuters poll of analysts showed.
Data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) last week showed that crude oil inventories rose by 3 million barrels for the week to November 22, to the highest level for November on records dating back to 1982.
The Reuters poll came ahead of weekly inventory reports from industry group American Petroleum Institute (API) due at 2130 GMT and the EIA due on Wednesday.
(Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman, Michael Urquhart and Gopakumar Warrier)