Oil traded near $30 a barrel as Iran loaded its first cargo to Europe since international sanctions ended and Chinese crude imports eased from a record. West Texas Intermediate futures rose as much as 1.7 percent in New York after surging 12 percent on Friday, while Brent in London climbed as much as 1.1 percent. A tanker for France’s Total SA was being loaded Sunday at Kharg Island while vessels chartered for Chinese and Spanish companies were due to arrive later the same day, an Iranian oil ministry official said. Increased Iranian supplies could push up crude storage, threatening a further drop in prices. “The basic idea in the market is that inventories may hit tank-top levels, which would require oil prices to drop to $20 or lower,” Andy Sommer, an analyst at Axpo Trading AG in Dietikon, Switzerland, said by e-mail. “Weak economies or strong Iranian supplies raises the risk that inventories will hit tank-top levels.” Oil in New York is down about 20 percent this year amid the outlook for increased Iranian exports and BP Plc predicts the market will remain “tough and choppy” in the first half as it contends with a surplus of 1 million barrels a day. Speculators’ long positions in WTI through Feb. 9 rose to the highest since June, according to data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. WTI for March delivery gained as much as 49 cents to $29.93 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $29.90 at 10:07 a.m. London time. The contract gained $3.23, or 12 percent, to close at $29.44 on Friday after dropping 19 percent the previous six sessions. Total volume traded was in line with the 100-day average. WTI prices lost 4.7 percent last week.

Iranian Shipments

Brent for April settlement increased as much as 37 cents to $33.73 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The contract climbed $3.30 to close at $33.36 on Friday. The European benchmark crude was at a premium of $1.45 to WTI for April. Iran, which was the second-biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries before sanctions were intensified in 2012, is seeking to boost output by 1 million barrels a day and regain market share after penalties were lifted. Total, Spanish refiner Compania Espanola de Petroleos and Russia’s Lukoil PJSC all booked cargoes to sail from Kharg Island to European ports, according to shipping reports compiled by Bloomberg earlier this month. In the U.S., drillers idled rigs for an eighth week to the lowest level since January 2010, according to data from Baker Hughes Inc. The number of active rigs dropped by 28 to 439, the company said on its website Friday. Speculators’ long position in WTI rose by 1,152 contracts to 302,384 futures and options, according to CFTC data. Shorts, or bets that prices will decline, slipped 2.1 percent. Net-longs increased 5 percent to a three-month high. China’s crude imports declined 20 percent in January from December to the lowest in three months as state refiners slowed operations amid swelling stockpiles of fuel. The world’s largest energy consumer in January cut imports by 4.6 percent from a year ago to 26.69 million metric tons, or about 6.3 million barrels a day, according to preliminary data released Monday from the General Administration of Customs in Beijing. Imports reached a record 33.2 million tons in December.