* Goldman raises China '09 GDP growth forecast to 8.3 pct
* Asian crude imports down
* U.S. API posts unexpected fall in crude stockpiles
(Updates prices)
By Jane Merriman
LONDON, April 22 (Reuters) - Oil eased towards $48 a barrel
in a narrow range on Wednesday, awaiting latest U.S. government
data on crude oil inventories, which are forecast to rise for
the seventh week in a row. []
Prices drew some support intially from 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> fell 22 cents to $48.33
a barrel at 1237 GMT, off a session low of $48.02 and a session
high of $49.09.
London Brent crude <LCOc1> fell 17 cents to $49.65 a barrel.
China's central bank has predicted a recovery in economic
growth this year, despite the country's 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 this optimism over China's outlook, demand for oil
remains weak, illustrated by the 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."
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is
concerned about the oversupply, Libya's top oil official said.
"We are worried about the overhang," Shokri Ghanem, chairman of
Libya's National Oil Corp., told Reuters.
OPEC meets next on May 28.
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 Strauss-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 recovery in demand, while stocks of oil
are still rising.
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.
The Energy Information Administration data at 1530 BST (1430
GMT) is expected to show a 2.6 million barrel increase in crude
oil inventories last week to a near 19-year high.
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 and Sue Thomas)
