* Oil edges above $56 after hitting 22-month low below $55
* OPEC considers more emergency talks
* IEA slashes global oil demand growth forecast
* Weekly U.S. data expected to show higher inventories
(Adds quote, paras 8-9, updates prices, paras 2-3)
By Barbara Lewis
LONDON, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Oil dropped to a 22-month low
under $55 on Thursday as evidence piled up global recession
would have a deep impact on demand and news OPEC might take more
emergency action did only a little to halt the sell-off.
U.S. crude futures <CLc1> were 19 cents firmer at $56.35 by
1158 GMT, recovering from a session low of $54.67 -- the weakest
level since Jan. 30, 2007.
London Brent crude <LCOc1> fell seven cents to $52.30.
The International Energy Agency on Thursday in a monthly
report slashed its global oil demand growth forecast for next
year and said this year's increase in consumption had been the
slowest since 1985.
It predicted demand would next year expand by only 350,000
barrels per day (bpd) -- down 340,000 bpd from its forecast in
last month's report.
Faced with the prospect stocks will swell as consumers stop
buying, pushing prices even lower, the Organization of the
Petroleum Exporting Countries said it was considering an
emergency meeting on Nov. 28 in Cairo.
Only last month, it agreed to cut output by 1.5 million bpd
at emergency talks in Vienna.
"The only thing supporting the market is the possibility of
OPEC cuts at the end of the month, but the production cuts wold
probably only be in step with falls in demand," said Christopher
Bellew of Bache Financial.
"The economic picture is terrible and the IEA only confirmed
that."
BREAK-NECK FALL
Oil has lost more than 60 percent of its value since hitting
an all-time high above $147 a barrel in July.
The average price so far this year is still only just below
$90 a barrel, but OPEC is focused on the price it receives for
its oil. The OPEC basket <OPEC-B-D> on Wednesday dropped below
$50 a barrel for the first time since January last year.
The sell-off has accelerated as the global economic crisis
has driven traders to take their money out of riskier assets
such as oil, which has been strongly correlated to falls on
wider financial markets.
Equities markets also eased on Thursday, with the
FTSEurofirst 300 <> down nearly one percent.
Later on Thursday, the focus for the oil market will shift
to the latest U.S. inventory data for release at 1600 GMT, a day
later than usual because of a public holiday in the United
States on Monday.
A Reuters poll of analysts predicted the data would show
crude stocks rose by 1.2 million barrels last week, while
distillate and gasoline inventories were expected to have grown
by 800,000 barrels and 300,000 barrels respectively. []
Earlier this week the U.S. government's Energy Information
Administration predicted fuel demand in the United States, the
world's biggest energy consumer, would drop this year by more
than 1 million bpd, the steepest decline since 1980.
Many analysts previously said demand from the world's second
biggest fuel burner China would offset declines in U.S.
consumption.
But in the latest sign China is also feeling the impact of
the global economic downturn, data on Thursday showed Chinese
annual industrial output had fallen to 8.2 percent in October,
the weakest reading since late 2001.
(Additional reporting by Christopher Johnson and Jane
Merriman in London and Fayen Wong in Perth; editing by William
Hardy)
