Brent oil, the global benchmark, is headed for its first annual advance in four years before supply cuts from OPEC and other producing nations next month intended to stabilize the market and reduce swelling global inventories. Futures added 0.5 percent in London. U.S. crude inventories unexpectedly expanded a second week with stockpiles climbing by 614,000 barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration reported Thursday. The latest data on U.S. drilling from Baker Hughes Inc. is due Friday, after the number of active oil rigs increased by 82 in the eight weeks to Dec. 23. Brent is set for its biggest annual gain since 2009 as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and 11 other nations push ahead with a plan to cut output. While they have managed to buoy sentiment and lift prices from below $30 a barrel early this year, the rising number of rigs in the U.S. […]