* Goldman raises China '09 GDP growth forecast to 8.3 pct
* Asian crude imports down
* U.S. API posts unexpected fall in crude stockpiles
(Recasts, adds analyst comment, previous SINGAPORE)
By Jane Merriman
LONDON, April 22 (Reuters) - Oil rose towards $49 a barrel
on Wednesday, partly in response to expectations of a recovery
in economic growth this year in China, the world's second
biggest energy consumer.
U.S. crude for June delivery <CLc1> rose 20 cents to $48.75
a barrel at 0930 GMT, off a session low of $48.02.
London Brent crude <LCOc1> rose 19 cents to $50.01 a barrel.
China's central bank has predicted a recovery in economic
growth this year, despite its gross domestic product slowing in
the first quarter to 6.1 percent from a year earlier, the lowest
rate on record.
Goldman Sachs has raised its forecast for China GDP growth
this year to 8.3 percent from 6.0 percent. []
Despite optimism over China's outlook, demand for oil
remains weak, illustrated by latest import data from Japan and
South Korea. [][]
"Arguably the biggest uncertainty in the oil market at the
moment is the economy," Lawrence Eagles, oil analyst at JP
Morgan said in a research note.
"But even assuming a tentative second half 2009 recovery,
some of the latest bleak demand data suggest that without a
further OPEC cut, we may not see a significant stock draw until
4Q09."
ECONOMIC FORECASTS
The International Monetary Fund looks set to cut its global
economic forecasts in the coming week.
"The forecast that we will present this week will be worse
than the previous one," Dominique Strausse-Kahn, the IMF's
managing director told Germany's Handelsblatt in an interview.
[]
Oil has fallen around $100 a barrel since a record above
$147 hit in July last year, but has risen more than 40 percent
since mid-February, partly because of signs of compliance by
OPEC members over agreed supply cuts.
Since then, it has traded in a narrow band, with few
convincing signs of a sustained demand recovery.
"At $45, it's fairly easy to make a long position. So it is
a support level. On the other hand, at the moment nobody wants
to buy at $50," said Ken Hasegawa, commodity sales manager with
broker Newedge in Tokyo.
Traders will be watching the EIA oil inventory data due
later in the day. []
Analysts polled by Reuters predict U.S. crude inventories
will have risen last week for the seventh time in a row, with
the stockpiles seen at their highest in nearly 19 years.
Data from the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday showed
U.S. crude oil stocks fell unexpectedly by 1 million barrels
last week to 370.2 million barrels.
(Additional reporting by Baizhen Chua in Singapore; editing by
James Jukwey)
