The price of crude oil climbed on Oct. 13, gaining support from record Chinese imports, but gains were limited after OPEC said its production had risen to the highest level in at least eight years and following reports of an increase in U.S. crude stocks.

Brent crude futures were trading at $51.91 per barrel (bbl) at (10:37 GMT), up 10 cents from their previous close. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up 3 cents, at $50.21/bbl.

Traders said oil markets had come under pressure after OPEC reported a rise in output.

"Crude responded predictably, with both Brent and WTI falling," said Jeffrey Halley of brokerage OANDA.

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OPEC Output Continues To Climb Amid Cut Pledges

OPEC on Oct. 12 reported its oil production climbed in September to an eight-year high of 33.39 MMbbl/d. It also raised its forecast for 2017 non-OPEC supply growth, pointing to a larger surplus next year despite the group's decision to limit output.

But some investors see the OPEC plan to curb output as a reason to take a bullish stance on the prospects for crude prices.

"In 2014 the big opportunity was in prices going down and now the big opportunity is in prices going up. That's the way I see it," hedge fund manager Pierre Andurand told the Reuters Commodities Summit.

He added that OPEC's decision in Algiers to limit its overall output to between 32.5 MMbbl/d and 33 MMbbl/d "takes off a large wild card from the oil markets for 2017."

Traders are also eyeing official U.S. inventory data due to be released later Oct. 13.

The private American Petroleum Institute reported on Oct. 12 that U.S. crude inventories rose by 2.7 MMbbl to 470.9 MMbbl in the week to Oct. 7. This would be the first rise in oil stocks following five straight weeks of declines.

But the market received some support from China, which imported record volumes of crude oil last month, eclipsing the U.S. as the world's top buyer of foreign oil for the third time in a year, in a trend that could soon put the Asian nation at the top of the world's oil import table permanently.

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China's September crude imports rose 18% from a year earlier to 33.06 million tonnes, or 8.04 MMbbl/d on daily basis, customs data showed, compared with the U.S. four-week average of 7.98 MMbbl/d.

Oil imports hit a record despite a worse-than-expected 10% fall in Chinese exports and a 1.9% drop in imports that cast a gloomy outlook on its economy.