China is missing ingredient in oil's recovery from six-year low

New York

OIL bulls who have cheered a rebound of 40 per cent from a six-year low should take heed: unless demand accelerates, the rally is in danger.

The omens aren't good. The US government expects global consumption to grow next year at less than half the rate of 2010, when the world was emerging from a previous recession. The growth is insufficient to close the gap with rising supply, according to Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe's biggest energy producer.