UPDATE 7-Oil jumps to above $52 as G20 meets

                                
 * G20 summit raises hopes of bottoming out of downturn
                                
 * Oil up more than $4 per barrel as stock market gains
                                
 * Saudi Arabia sees oil demand falling further
                                
 * IEA says likely to lower oil demand forecast significantly

                                
 (Recasts throughout)
                                
 By Christopher Johnson
                                
 LONDON, April 2 (Reuters) - Oil rose more than $4 per barrel
to above $52 on Thursday as the G20 summit in London raised
hopes of a package of measures to restore global growth.
                                
 Traders said the market was optimistic the meeting of the
world's leaders would come up with ways to soften the economic
crisis and bring an end eventually to the credit squeeze.
                                
 The G20 will agree to triple the IMF war chest to fight the
worst economic crisis since the 1930's and impose curbs on
markets, sources at the G20 summit said. [ID:nL1230573].
                                
 U.S. stocks rose for a third straight session with the Dow
Jones industrial average <.DJI>, Standard & Poor's 500 Index
<.SPX> and Nasdaq <.IXIC> all up more than 2.5 percent. [.N]
                                
 European shares also rose sharply after Asian stocks hit a
three-month high with Tokyo's Nikkei up 4.4 percent. [.EU] [.T]
                                
 U.S. light crude oil for May delivery <CLc1> rose to a high
of $52.42 per barrel, up $4.03, before slipping back to trade
around $52.01 by 1505 GMT. London Brent crude <LCOc1> was up
$3.80 at $52.24 a barrel.
                                
 Analysts said the positive language coming out of the G20
summit had increased the risk appetite for investors in many
classes of assets, oil included, by raising hopes of a
coordinated effort to tackle the economic downturn.
                                
 
                                
 "RISK APPETITE RISING"
                                
 "Risk appetite is rising and the sharp jump in oil prices
have clearly triggered a number of buy stops that have added to
the momentum of the move upwards," said Mike Wittner, head of
oil research at Societe Generale.
                                
 Tony Machacek, oil broker at Bache Commodities in London,
said the technical picture had strengthened as oil prices rose.
                                
 "It's managed to pop back above $50 which could be giving
the market a bit of a boost from a technical perspective," he
said. "There seems to be a G20 factor -- the stock markets are
strong and the dollar is weaker. That is also helping."
                                
 Oil has fallen nearly $100 from a record high above $147 in
July 2008 as the economic downturn has dented global energy
demand, particularly in the United States.
                                
 The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless
benefits unexpectedly rose to its highest level in over 26 years
last week and so-called continued claims jumped to a record high
in March, according to Labor Department data on Thursday.
                                
 Initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits
rose 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 669,000 in the week ended
March 28, the highest since the week ending Oct. 2, 1982, from
an upwardly revised 657,000 the week before.
                                
 A Saudi Arabian official said on Thursday oil demand from
developed countries would decline this year, although demand
could revive if the economy improved. [nL2467848]
                                
 The head of the International Energy Agency sounded a
similar note, saying the agency was likely to cut its oil demand
forecasts significantly. [nL2944671]
                                
 "We now have data from not only the IMF but the OECD. They
all look gloomy. Inevitably, the possible downward revision can
be significant but I cannot say how big."
                                
 Investors were looking ahead to U.S. non-farm payrolls data
on Friday, which could put downward pressure on oil prices.
                                
 Forecasters polled by Reuters expect non-farm payrolls to
show a fall of 650,000 for March, similar to the 651,000 shed in
February. [ID:nN01523085]
 (Additional reporting by Alex Lawler in London and Osamu
Tsukimori in Tokyo; editing by James Jukwey)