* API/EIA weekly data to show rise in U.S. crude stocks
* U.S. EIA to unveil short-term outlook later
(Recasts with quote, prices)
By Jennifer Tan
SINGAPORE, April 14 (Reuters) - Oil slid more than $1 to
under $49 on Tuesday, extending the previous day's drop as
caution grew ahead of the release of U.S. weekly data that
could show a rise in crude stocks for the world's top energy
user.
The grim U.S. inventory report is likely to confirm the
International Energy Agency's dismal outlook for global oil
demand, after it slashed its 2009 forecasts on Friday.
"The inventory data is still expected to be fairly bearish,
and the market's pricing that in," said Mark Pervan, a senior
commodity strategist with ANZ Bank in Melbourne.
"There's growing caution -- we've had a pretty good run in
the last couple of weeks, and the market is now looking for
signs to take profits, rather than build positions."
By 0758 GMT, U.S. crude for May delivery <CLc1> was down 65
cents at $49.40 a barrel, after falling to $48.96. Prices had
fallen $2.19, or over 4 percent, on Monday. ICE Brent crude
<LCOc1> was down 37 cents at $51.77 a barrel.
Oil prices have been stuck in a $47-$54-range for the past
four weeks, having recovered from a low of $32.40 in December.
They are still down almost $100 from a record high above $147
last July.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) releases
its short-term energy outlook at 1230 GMT on Tuesday, which
will give an estimate of global and U.S. oil demand for the
year, and unveils its weekly inventory data on Wednesday.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) will unveil its
weekly report later on Tuesday at 2030 GMT, while OPEC
publishes its monthly view on Wednesday.
The preliminary forecast ahead of the weekly API/EIA
inventory figures calls for a 2.2 million-barrel increase in
crude stocks, a 1.0 million-barrel decline in distillate
supplies and a 700,000-barrel drawdown in gasoline stocks.
[]
Oil traders consider the API report to be less accurate
than the EIA data, which requires energy firms to respond to
their weekly survey.
The IEA struck a gloomy note on Friday when it said world
oil demand would fall by 2.4 million barrels per day (bpd) this
year from 2008 to 83.4 million bpd, as the rate of contraction
in fuel consumption reached levels last seen in the early
1980s. []
"The IEA report is a wake-up call of sorts, and we will see
a widening of the contango in the market. We'd probably see
front-month crude trading down, deep into the $40s in the near
term," said Tony Nunan, the Assistant Manager of Risk
Management with Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Corp.
On the supply front, Saudi Arabia will trim oil supplies to
some of its Asian customers in May, and one European buyer
suggested the world's top exporter was concerned about high
inventories. []
Saudi Arabia has been largely responsible for OPEC's high
level of compliance -- estimated at 80 percent -- with
agreements to cut output by a total of 4.2 million bpd since
September last year.
Iran's OPEC governor Mohammad Ali Khatibi said if oil
demand continued to fall, the group might decide to further cut
its oil output, but Qatar's Oil Minister Abdullah al-Attiyah
said it was "too early to react" to the IEA forecast.
[] []
(Editing by Ramthan Hussain and Ben Tan)
