* Oil rally fades ahead of US inventory data
* American Petroleum Institute data due at 2130 GMT
(Recasts, updates prices)
By Jane Merriman
LONDON, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell towards $45 a
barrel on Tuesday as the market began to anticipate data showing
rising fuel inventories that reflect economic slowdown.
Prices had earlier advanced more than a dollar, boosted
partly by cold weather in top energy consumer the United States,
plus signs OPEC oil supply cuts may have begun to bite.
U.S. light, sweet crude for March delivery <CLc1> fell 66
cents to $45.07 a barrel by 1259 GMT. It earlier touched a
session high of $47.49 a barrel and a session low of $44.40.
U.S. crude has rebounded from below $33 a barrel in the past
week.
London Brent crude <LCOc1> fell 92 cents to $46.04 a barrel.
"The retreat toward the lower end of the trading range is
suggests the market is anticipating stock builds in the API
figures," said Christopher Bellew of broker Bache Commodities
Ltd.
The American Petroleum Institute (API), an industry body,
has moved publication of its weekly inventory report to 2130 GMT
on Tuesdays from Wednesdays, a day earlier than official
government inventory data released on Wednesday.
The government data is forecast to show that U.S. crude oil
stocks rose a further 2.7 million barrels last week, the fifth
straight week of gains. []
Colder weather is expected to help draw down distillate
stocks by 800,000 barrels, according to a Reuters poll. Gasoline
stocks are likely to have risen by 1.3 million barrels.
ABOVE LOWS
The U.S. cold snap has helped prices move up from lows
earlier in January of $32.7 a barrel, but analysts say the
recovery may be temporary.
"Unless OPEC production cuts in January were substantially
greater than what we have assumed, it is still too early to be
calling an end to this current bear market," Goldman Sachs said
in a research note.
Oil's supply/demand picture remains weak, Goldman said,
pointing to a large counter-seasonal stock build in the United
States and extremely weak demand in China, the world's second
largest energy consumer.
Oil has dropped more than $100 from a record peak above $147
a barrel in July last year, depressed by falls in demand as the
credit crisis has pushed the global economy towards recession.
Goldman said retail investors were moving into oil,
attracted by its low price, so that speculative positions or
"length" in the oil market is now larger at $45 a barrel than it
was at $147.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has
agreed to reduce supply by 4.2 million barrels per day since
September to try to support prices. The producer group is due to
meet next in March.
A cyclone off western Australia has shut down nearly half of
the country's oil output, but some operators said production was
likely to resume by Wednesday as the storm weakens. []
Later on Tuesday, U.S. President Barack Obama goes to
Capitol Hill to campaign for an $825 billion economic stimulus
package to be put to a House vote within days.
(Additional reporting by Jonathan Leff in Singapore; Editing by
Anthony Barker)
