* U.S. stimulus hopes lead price recovery
* Signs emerge of recovery in Asian demand
(Updates prices)
By Ahmad Ghaddar
LONDON, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Crude oil prices rose on Tuesday,
underpinned by expectations of U.S. economic stimulus to support
the world's biggest oil consumer as well as a rebound in Asian
demand as economies reopen.
Brent crude added 60 cents, or 1.3%, to $45.59 a
barrel by 1218 GMT. West Texas Intermediate U.S. crude
rose 77 cents, or 1.8%, to $42.71.
U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted on Monday that top
congressional Democrats want to meet him to discuss
coronavirus-related economic relief after talks broke down last
week.
"A deal on the support package is not a foregone conclusion,
but if a mutually acceptable accord is struck, stocks and oil
will get a short-term boost," said Tamas Varga of oil brokerage
PVM.
Signs of recovering Asian oil demand also boosted prices.
On Sunday, Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said he expects oil
demand to rebound in Asia as economies open up.
China's factory deflation eased in July, driven by a rise in
global oil prices and as industrial activity climbed back
towards pre-coronavirus levels, adding to signs of recovery in
the world's second-largest economy.
Prices also found support from a rally in European stocks,
which rose for a third straight session on Tuesday as automakers
gained on firm Chinese sales data.
U.S. passenger airline traffic, which was hit hard by the
COVID-19 pandemic, was down 80% year on year in June, official
figures showed, but was still nearly twice the levels in
May.
Energy companies have begun taking back millions of barrels
of oil from the U.S. government's emergency stockpile after
renting storage to manage a glut of crude this spring after
energy demand collapsed during coronavirus lockdowns, a
Department of Energy website showed on Monday.
(Additional reporting by Naveen Thukral and Shu Zhang in
Singapore
Editing by Louise Heavens and David Goodman)