Shipments averaged 9.05 million barrels a day in November Oil rig count in the U.S. at highest level since September Crude edged higher as near-record Chinese orders for foreign crude signaled stronger demand in the world’s second-largest economy. Futures climbed 1.2 percent in New York. A rebound in China’s crude imports last month from a one-year low defused some of the pessimism among investors fanned by a U.S. government report earlier this week showing bearish increases in fuel inventories and domestic oil production. “Everyone is talking about that big jump in imports of crude into China last month,” according to John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC , a New York-based hedge fund. “It’s definitely a strong source of demand.” This year’s watershed moment for global oil markets was last month’s agreement by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and allied producers to extend production curbs through […]