* Equity markets rebound, OPEC to meet for more cuts
* U.S. gasoline demand falls, fuel stocks rise - EIA
* IEA slashes global oil demand growth forecast
(Recasts, updates prices at settlement, adds stock market detail,
Qatari oil minister quote)
By Edward McAllister
NEW YORK, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Oil jumped nearly 4 percent on
Thursday as OPEC seemed poised to cut production again later this
month and a rebound in equity markets offset growing signs of
slowing demand.
U.S. crude <CLc1> settled up $2.08 at $58.24 a barrel after
earlier dropping to $54.67 -- its weakest since Jan. 30, 2007 --
following the release of U.S. government data showing products
stocks rising and demand weakening.
London Brent crude for December deliver <LCOc1>, which expired
on Thursday, settled down 38 cents at $51.99, the lowest settlement
since prices ended at $51.75 on Jan. 18, 2007.
U.S. stocks extended gains in choppy trade as investors waded
back into beaten-down sectors, tempering worries about a deeper
economic slump. []
"The stock market is rebounding a bit here and crude oil is
following. I'm sensing we might be nearing the bottom on crude oil,"
said Mark Waggoner, president of Excel Futures in Huntington Beach,
California.
Further support came as OPEC President Chakib Khelil told
Algerian state radio on Thursday the group would "take the right
decision" at a meeting on Nov. 29 as slumping demand continues to
pressure prices. []
Oil has lost more than 60 percent of its value since hitting an
all-time high above $147 a barrel in July as the global economic
crisis deepens.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries already
cut output by 1.5 million barrels per day at emergency talks in
Vienna last month.
Qatar's oil minister, Abdullah al-Attiyah, called for "strong
support" for OPEC from non-OPEC oil producers "so there is a balance
between supply and demand", on Al Jazeera Television.
[]
Venezuela has said it would propose a further cut of one million
bpd at a meeting scheduled for Dec. 17 in Oran, Algeria.
Oil fell earlier on Thursday as the tremors of economic decline
signaled further destruction in world demand and the U.S. Energy
Information Administration's weekly inventory report showed
increased stocks.
The International Energy Agency forecast 2008 demand would grow
at the slowest rate since 1985, and predicted growth of 350,000 bpd
for next year, down 340,000 bpd from its forecast in last month's
report. []
Germany fell into recession in the third quarter when its
economy shrank by a steeper-than-expected 0.5 percent, data showed,
while in the United States the number of workers drawing jobless
benefits hit a 25 year high. []
U.S. inventory data showed a rise in product stocks as total
product demand dropped by 6.6 percent over the past four weeks.
[]
Overall crude stocks were unchanged against expectations of an
increase, and gasoline inventories rose by 2 million barrels, more
than analysts had expected.
Heating oil inventories -- closely watched as the United States
prepares for winter -- rose by 1.3 million barrels while distillate
stocks rose by 600,000 barrels.
(Additional reporting by Barbara Lewis Christopher Johnson and Jane
Merriman in London and Fayen Wong in Perth; Robert Gibbons and Gene
Ramos in New York; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
