(Corrects paragraph 4 to show oil at lowest since Jan. 30,
2007, not Jan. 29, 2007.)
* Oil falls, hovers around $55 on economic woes
* Weekly U.S. data seen to show crude, gasoline stocks rise
* OPEC officials call for further cuts
By Fayen Wong
PERTH, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Oil slid for a third straight day
to hit a 22-month low of $55 a barrel on Thursday, after a 5
percent overnight loss, as mounting pessimism about the global
economy outweighed OPEC's comments that it could cut output
again as early as end-November.
OPEC officials, concerned about oil's steep drop from
record highs over $147 a barrel per day (bpd) in July, said the
cartel could possibly decide by the end of the month to cut
production again to raise prices. []
But comments from the producer group failed to lift oil
prices, as investors focused on near-term demand woes after the
U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) slashed America's
2008 oil demand outlook and the International Energy Agency
(IEA) flagged further reduction in its oil forecast.
U.S. light crude for December delivery <CLc1> fell 40 cents
to $55.76 a barrel by 0219 GMT, after having fallen earlier to
$55.03 -- the lowest since Jan. 30, 2007. The contract fell
$3.17 to settle at $56.16 a barrel on Wednesday.
London Brent crude <LCOc1> fell 41 cents to $51.96.
"Oil prices continue to be pressured by fears that weaker
international economic growth will depress oil consumption,"
said David Moore, a commodities strategist at the Commonwealth
Bank of Australia.
Oil's overnight fall came after the U.S. government shifted
its position on how it planned to use its $700 billion bailout
fund, which added uncertainty to financial markets and renewed
fears of a protracted global recession.
Expectations that U.S. government data would show a further
build-up of its crude and gasoline stocks also weighed on
prices, analysts said.
Analysts polled by Reuters ahead of U.S. weekly inventory
data forecast crude oil stocks rose 1.2 million barrels last
week, while distillate inventories were seen rising by 800,000
barrels. []
Analysts also forecast a 300,000 barrel rise in gasoline
stocks. The data will be released on Thursday, a day later than
usual due to the U.S. Veterans' Day holiday on Tuesday.
Oil has lost about $91, or 62 percent, from its record high
of above $147 struck in mid-July, on growing evidence that
recent high energy prices and the financial crisis have dented
energy demand in the United States and other industrialised
nations.
Demand in the United States, the world's biggest consumer
of oil, was expected to fall by more than 1 million barrels per
day (bpd) for the first time since 1980 this year, the EIA
said.
The EIA also forecast world oil demand to rise by only just
100,000 bpd in 2008 and will be virtually flat in 2009, as it
cut its 2009 oil price forecast to average around $63.50 a
barrel.
Analysts said a move by IEA to further cut its oil demand
growth forecast later on Thursday could heighten fears among
investors that the ferocity of the recession sweeping through
many of the world's biggest economies has not yet been fully
factored into projections for oil demand.
OPEC President Chakib Khelil told Reuters on Wednesday that
OPEC may cut oil supplies again, possibly by the end of this
month if prices keep falling and the world economy weakens
"If the prices continue their decline, most probably OPEC will
have to take a further decision on a cut in supply," Khelil,
who is also Algeria's energy and mines minister, told Reuters
in an interview in Algiers. []
A further decision to lower output could happen as early as
a Nov. 29 meeting of the Organization of the Arab Petroleum
Exporting Countries in Cairo, Khelil said.
The group includes top OPEC producer Saudi Arabia, Kuwait
and the United Arab Emirates.
(Editing by Ben Tan)
