* Oil falls ahead of US inventory data
* American Petroleum Institute data due at 2130 GMT
* Prices of U.S. single family homes plunge 18.2 pct in Nov
* U.S. consumer confidence falls to record low
(Updates prices)
By Jane Merriman
LONDON, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell towards $43 a
barrel on Tuesday as the market began to anticipate data showing
rising fuel inventories in top energy consumer the United States
that reflect economic slowdown.
Prices had earlier advanced more than a dollar from Monday,
boosted partly by cold weather in the United States, plus signs
OPEC oil supply cuts may have begun to bite.
U.S. light, sweet crude for March delivery <CLc1> fell $2.34
to $43.39 a barrel by 1553 GMT. It earlier touched a session
high of $47.49 a barrel and a session low of $43.15.
U.S. crude has rebounded from below $33 a barrel in the past
week.
London Brent crude <LCOc1> fell $2.40 to $44.56 a barrel.
"The retreat toward the lower end of the trading range
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 before official data from the
Energy Information Administration released on Wednesday.
The EIA 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.
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.
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.
In the United States, for example, prices of single family
homes fell a record 18.2 percent in November from a year
earlier, showing the depth of the recession in the U.S. housing
market. []
U.S. consumer confidence fell to a record low in January.
[]
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)
