* Mixed views on effect of China tightening
* Oil prices stay within $1 of eight-week highs
* Coming up: IEA monthly report; 0900 GMT
(Updates prices, adds China industry minister remarks)
By Alejandro Barbajosa
SINGAPORE, March 12 (Reuters) - Oil was steady above $82 on
Friday, poised for a second consecutive weekly increase, on
views that energy demand would continue to grow despite any
efforts by China to tighten monetary policy further on rising
inflation.
Chinese crude imports soared to their second-highest daily
average on record in February, customs data showed on
Wednesday, a day before the government said consumer inflation
soared to a 16-month high.
The People's Bank of China has increased required reserves
twice this year, and economists suspect a third rise is
imminent.
"By tightening they are lowering the probability that the
economy overheats, and that gives you a more stable outlook for
energy demand over coming years," said Ben Westmore, a
commodities analyst at the National Australia Bank.
The front-month U.S. crude <CLc1> contract rose 4 cents to
$82.15 a barrel by 0741 GMT. It reached $83.03 a barrel on
Wednesday, the highest level since Jan. 11, when prices touched
a 15-month peak of $83.95. London ICE Brent for April <LCOc1>
dipped 3 cents to $80.25.
Westmore, who does not see the tightening as a big threat
to economic activity in China, said: "They are trying to put
the economy on a more sustainable growth path. Authorities are
confident enough about the stability of demand that they feel
they can tighten."
China itself, however, is less upbeat.
Industry minister Li Yizhong said the economic burst
delivered by the country's stimulus package, launched in late
2008, had almost run its course and China will be unable to
maintain the swift pace of industrial output growth seen in the
first two months of this year. []
China will find it tough to strike the right balance
between cooling lending while sustaining growth, a senior
central bank official said in remarks published on
Friday.[]
OPEC TO KEEP CURBS
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
(OPEC), which pumps at least one in every three barrels of oil,
meets in Vienna on March 17 to discuss production policy.
Officials have said they do not expect a change in targets
while prices are within their desired range. []
"To a large extent, all OPEC ministers need to do at this
juncture is maintain the current policy stance, and to float
along with the positive and improving data flow," Barclays
Capital analysts headed by Paul Horsnell said in a weekly
report.
The International Energy Agency, an adviser to
industrialised nations on energy policy, will publish its
monthly oil market report at 0900 GMT. Investors closely follow
the agency's demand forecasts.
OPEC has restricted output since the onset of the financial
crisis in a bid to support prices. But the group's compliance
with its officially targeted cut of 4.2 million barrels per day
(bpd) has slipped to just 53 percent as prices have risen.
The dollar <.DXY> was weaker against a basket of currencies
on Friday, after mixed data on U.S. trade and jobless claims
signalled the economy was improving at a slow pace.
White House economic adviser Larry Summers said on
Thursday
the United States was "very close" to the point where job
growth can begin. []
The dollar has gained more than 7 percent since the end of
November against the basket of currencies, boosting the
purchasing power of oil exporters, including OPEC members.
A weaker dollar usually supports oil prices as it makes
dollar-denominated commodities less expensive for holders of
other currencies. []
The U.S. trade deficit narrowed unexpectedly in January as
oil imports fell to their lowest since February 1999, a
government report showed on Thursday. U.S. exports fell, but
not as much as the oil-led drop in imports. []
(Editing by Ramthan Hussain, Himani Sarkar)
