* World oil demand to fall at fastest rate since 1981 - IEA
* OPEC compliance with supply cuts slipping - IEA
* U.S. jobless claims rise more than expected
(Updates prices, adds U.S. jobless claims)
By David Sheppard
LONDON, May 14 (Reuters) - Oil fell towards $57 a barrel on
Thursday after the International Energy Agency (IEA) forecast
global oil consumption will fall this year at the fastest rate
since 1981.
The Paris-based IEA, adviser to 28 industrialised nations on
energy policy, said the rise in oil prices to a six-month high
above $60 this week was due to sentiment rather than supply and
demand fundamentals, with consumption set to fall by 2.56
million barrels per day (bpd) in 2009.
"The oil price seems to have moved a bit higher in the past
month largely on the basis of equity markets and sentiment about
potential economic recovery," David Fyfe, head of the IEA's Oil
Industry and Markets Division, told Reuters.
"But we're not seeing it in terms of the preliminary demand
data for early 2009."
U.S. crude <CLc1> fell 70 cents to $57.33 a barrel at 1316
GMT, having hit $60 a barrel on Tuesday.
London Brent <LCOc1> fell 57 cents to $56.77.
The agency said oil demand is expected to average 83.2
million bpd in 2009, down from its previous forecast of 83.4
million bpd. Crude stockpiles in developed countries have risen
to the highest level since 1993 due to the global recession.
"The report is commensurate with the depth of economic
contraction we are currently experiencing," said Harry
Tchilingruian, senior oil analyst at BNP Paribas.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
(OPEC), which has announced 4.2 million bpd of production cuts
since September in a bid to tighten the market, also pumped more
oil last month than in March, the IEA said.
OPEC members' compliance with production quotas has fallen
to 78 percent in April from 83 percent a month earlier. The
producer group next meets on May 28.
NIGERIA UNREST
Top OPEC exporter Saudi Arabia shares the view that prices
have moved ahead of the economy, the Saudi-owned al-Hayat
newspaper reported on Thursday, citing French sources after the
French economy minister met Saudi King Abdullah and his Oil
Minister on Sunday. []
Equity markets were mixed on Thursday, after weekly U.S.
employment data showed a larger than expected rise in the number
of workers filing new claims for jobless benefits.
[]
Oil prices have tracked equities markets closely in recent
months as traders looked for signs of an economic recovery that
could lift ailing world fuel demand. A rally in stock markets
this year has helped lift crude prices almost 80 percent from a
January low of $32.70.
European shares were flat on Thursday ahead of U.S. weekly
jobless claims and April producer prices at 1230 GMT.
Unrest in Nigeria, Africa's biggest oil producer, provided
some support for oil prices.
Nigeria's main militant group on Wednesday ordered oil
workers in Africa's biggest oil producer to leave the delta
within 24 hours following heavy clashes between MEND and
security forces.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND)
on Thursday gave oil companies in the Niger Delta an additional
48 hours to evacuate their staff, but threatened to attack
helicopters and planes after the deadline. []
A security source working in the oil industry said it was
taking the threat seriously, but there were no plans to evacuate
staff.
(Additional reporting by Chua Baizhen in Singapore; editing by
James Jukwey)
