* Nine companies agree to rent space in U.S. emergency oil
reserve
* Shell cuts dividend for first time since World War II
* Norway to lower crude output for first time in 18 years
* Global storage concerns persist
* Rate of change in global energy demand: https://tmsnrt.rs/3aRs40O
(New throughout, updates prices, market activity and comments;
new byline, changes dateline, previous LONDON)
By Scott DiSavino
NEW YORK, April 30 (Reuters) - Oil prices jumped on
Thursday, as signs the U.S. crude glut was not growing as
quickly as many had feared brought an upbeat close to one of the
most volatile months for oil trading in history.
Fuel demand worldwide slumped about 30% in April. Even after
major oil producers led by Saudi Arabia agreed to slash
production by nearly 10 million barrels per day (bpd), U.S.
crude futures closed on April 20 at a record low in negative
territory.
That collapse in U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures
made traders frantic to avoid taking delivery as the front-month
contract expired, forcing traders to pay $37.63 a barrel at
settlement to get rid of their contracts.
Prices have recovered somewhat but remain sharply down year
to date.
On Thursday, the last day as the front-month, Brent
futures for June delivery rose $2.72, or 12%, to $25.26 a barrel
by 12:09 p.m. EDT (1609 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI)
crude for June rose $2.57, or 17%, to $17.62.
Brent, the international benchmark, is on track to gain
about 12% in April after falling more than 65% over the prior
three months. WTI, meanwhile, is on track for its fourth month
of declines, with a 12% loss in April and a 70% fall so far this
year.
The more actively traded Brent futures for July,
which will soon be the front-month, were up about 6% to $25.77 a
barrel.
Volume in WTI futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange
were set to top 35 million contracts in April, which Refinitiv
data puts as second only to the previous month's 40.9 million
record.
U.S. crude inventories grew by 9 million barrels last week
to 527.6 million barrels, Energy Information Administration
data showed, below the 10.6 million barrel rise analysts
expected in a Reuters poll.
"If we see a continuation of this trend in the coming weeks,
it could suggest the worst might be behind the oil market,"
ING's head of commodities strategy Warren Patterson said.
Western Europe's largest oil producer, Norway, said it would
lower output from June to December, cutting production for the
first time in 18 years as it joined other major producers'
efforts to support prices and curb oversupply.
The crisis prompted Royal Dutch Shell Plc to
announce its first dividend cut since World War Two.
U.S. oil and gas company ConocoPhillips said it
would sharply reduce oil production in coming weeks, aiming to
shut in 35% of its total output by June.
Storage concerns continue to weigh with the International
Energy Agency saying global capacity could peak by
mid-June.
U.S. President Donald Trump said his administration would
soon release a plan to help U.S. oil companies.
Nine companies including Chevron Corp and Exxon
Mobil Corp have agreed to rent space to store 23 million
barrels of crude in the U.S. emergency oil reserve.
(Additional by Noah Browning in London, Sonali Paul in
Melbourne and Koustav Samanta in Singapore; Editing by Alexander
Smith, Jason Neely, Mark Potter and David Gregorio)
