* IEA raises oil demand forecast but warns COVID-19 clouds
outlook
    * U.S. posts highest daily COVID-19 count yet for any
country
    * U.S. rig count falls to record low for 10th week -Baker
Hughes

 (New throughout, updates prices, market activity and comments
to settlement)
    By Devika  Krishna Kumar
    NEW YORK, July 10 (Reuters) - Oil prices climbed more than
2% on Friday after the International Energy Agency (IEA) bumped
up its 2020 demand forecast but record-breaking new coronavirus
cases in the United States tempered expectations for a fast
recovery in fuel consumption.
    Prices also found support after data showed U.S. energy
firms cut the number of oil and natural gas rigs operating to a
record low for a 10th week in a row.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2EH1K7
    Brent crude  LCOc1  settled up 89 cents, or 2%, at $43.24 a
barrel and U.S. oil  CLc1  settled up 93 cents, or 2.4%, at
$40.55 a barrel.
    A strong stock market also boosted oil prices. A slate of
economic data, including a record monthly payrolls addition,
pointed to a revival in U.S. business activity in June.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2EH38W
    U.S. crude was little changed on the week while Brent
notched a weekly gain of about 1%.    
    The Paris-based IEA raised its demand forecast to 92.1
million barrels per day (bpd), up 400,000 bpd from its outlook
last month.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2EH1F2
    Still, more than 60,500 new COVID-19 cases were reported in
the United States on Thursday, a daily record and the highest
daily count for any country since the pathogen emerged in China
last year.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2EG13N
    "While the oil market has undoubtedly made progress ... the
large, and in some countries, accelerating number of COVID-19
cases is a disturbing reminder that the pandemic is not under
control," the IEA said.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2EH1F2 
    Prices had dropped early in the session after Libya National
Oil Corporation announced it had lifted its force majeure on all
oil exports after a half-year blockade by eastern forces.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nD5N2CA01Q
    "The expected re-start of Libyan exports will only add to
the vulnerability of the OPEC+ production restraint in keeping
the energy complex heavily reliant upon a renewed expansion in
risk appetite for any advances back to around this week’s
highs," said Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch and
Associates.
    Oil inventories remain bloated due to the evaporation of
demand for fuel during the initial outbreak. 
    "If we take a bigger picture view of the market, what stands
out to us is that we have not yet seen much of a decline on the
global inventory front," JBC said.
    U.S. crude oil inventories rose by nearly 6 million barrels
last week; analysts had forecast a decline.  EIA/S  
   Mounting tension between the United States and China also
pressured prices. China said it would impose reciprocal measures
in response to U.S. sanctions on Chinese officials over alleged
human rights abuses against the Uighur Muslim minority.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2EG1C5 

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demand supply balance    https://tmsnrt.rs/3gJWtl5
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 (Reporting by Devika Krishna Kumar in New York; additional
reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin in London, Aaron Sheldrick in
Tokyo; Editing by Marguerita Choy, Louise Heavens and David
Gregorio)
 ((devika.kumar@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 6059; Reuters
Messaging: devika.kumar.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))