Chinese Consumption

China consumed 9.06 million barrels a day of oil in 2010, making it the second-largest user of crude after the U.S., at 19.1 million barrels a day, according to WorldWatch statistics review.

Oil’s loss also followed a stronger dollar and lower U.S. stocks, Lynch said. A stronger U.S. currency reduces oil’s appeal as an alternate investment.

The Dollar Index, which tracks the U.S. currency against six major peers including the euro and the yen, rose 1.2 percent. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 2.1 percent.

U.S. oil inventories probably dropped for the first time in three weeks in the seven days ended Dec. 9 as refineries boosted capacity, a Bloomberg News survey showed.

Supplies shrank by 2.5 million barrels, or 0.7 percent, to 333.6 million last week, according to the median estimate of 10 analysts polled before a weekly Energy Department report on Dec. 14.

Iran’s Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi said some OPEC members should reduce output to accommodate the return of shipments from Libya and increased Iraqi exports, according to a report yesterday by the state-run Mehr news agency. The report came as oil ministers from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries began arriving in Vienna before a Dec. 14 meeting.

Libya pumped 500,000 barrels a day in November, from a low of 45,000 barrels in the midst of the rebellion against former leader Muammar Qaddafi, according to Bloomberg estimates.