* IMF cuts global growth forecast
* Goldman raises China '09 GDP growth forecast to 8.3 pct
* Asian crude imports down
(Adds IMF, updates prices)
By Jane Merriman
LONDON, April 22 (Reuters) - Oil briefly dipped below $48 a
barrel on Wednesday, after the International Monetary Fund cut
its 2009 global growth forecast and said the world was in a
severe recession.
U.S. crude for June delivery <CLc1> stood 34 cents lower at
$48.21 a barrel at 1316 GMT, off a session low of $47.70 and a
session high of $49.09.
London Brent crude <LCOc1> fell 32 cents to $49.50 a barrel.
The IMF predicted in its latest World Economic Outlook that
the global economy will shrink by 1.3 percent in 2009. In
January, the organisation forecast global growth of 0.5 percent
this year. []
Oil prices had earlier drawn some support from expectations
of a recovery in economic growth in China, the world's
second-biggest energy consumer.
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. []
HIGH STOCKS
Despite optimism about China, 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.
Independent oil tanker owner Frontline has estimated oil
companies are storing close to 100 million barrels of crude oil
at sea -- the highest in recent times. []
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)
