NEW YORK, May 4 (UPI) -- A running of the bulls in the Chinese stock market pushed oil prices into positive territory Monday, with major indices up nearly a full percent.
China's Shanghai Composite Index finished trading Monday up 0.8 percent amid signs that growth was vibrant despite the general slowdown in pace. Since May 2014, the Shanghai is up 119 percent.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in its latest monthly market report said about 60 percent of the oil demand growth this year would come from Asian economies like China.
Brent crude oil prices were up 0.8 percent in early Monday trading to $66.95 per barrel. Brent crude oil prices are up nearly 25 percent since the start of April.
Oil prices fell sharply last year as supplies far outweighed demand in a market gripped by the shale oil boom in the United States.
Officials from Saudi Arabia said last week from Beijing any claims that oil was fading from the global marketplace was a "denial of economic reality."
Ni Zhengdong, founder of Beijing-based venture fund Zero2IPO Group, told China's official Xinhua News Agency there was "enormous positive energy" building in the Chinese stock market as the government focuses on qualitative over quantitative growth.
Futures suggest a positive day on Wall Street after internet stocks like Twitter pushed U.S. indices lower last week. Employment in the United States, including in key oil-producing states, continues, however, to show forward momentum.
West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. oil benchmark, was up about three quarters of a percent in early Monday trading to sell for $59.57 per barrel.
