* 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, adds Kehlil comment)
By Edward McAllister
NEW YORK, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Oil jumped over 4 percent on
Thursday as OPEC seemed poised to cut production again later
this month and equity markets rebounded.
U.S. crude <CLc1> rose $2.41 to $58.57 by 2:02 p.m. EST
(1802 GMT), recovering from a session low of $54.67 -- the
weakest level since Jan. 30, 2007. London Brent crude <LCOc1>
traded down 37 cents to $52.00 a barrel.
"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 the group would "take the right decision"
at a meeting on Nov. 29 as slumping demand continues to
pressure prices. []
Oil fell earlier as the tremors of economic decline
signaled further declines in world demand and the EIA's weekly
inventory report showed increased stocks.
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.
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 International Energy Agency on Thursday forecast 2008
demand would grow at the slowest rate since 1985, and predicted
growth of 350,000 barrels per day (bpd) for next year, down
340,000 bpd from its forecast in last month's report.
Faced with the prospect of rising stocks and falling
prices, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
said it was considering an emergency meeting at the end of
November in Cairo. []
Only last month, it agreed to cut output by 1.5 million bpd
at emergency talks in Vienna.
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.
(Additional reporting by Barbara Lewis Christopher Johnson and
Jane Merriman in London and Fayen Wong in Perth; Editing by Jim
Marshall)
