UPDATE 1-Oil rises towards $40, eyes U.S. economic stimulus

                                
 * Focus on U.S. stimulus package
                                
 * U.S. to lay out plan to mop up bad mortgage assets
                                
 * U.S. crude supply seen up on low runs, high imports
 (Adds details, updates prices)
                                
 By Fayen Wong
                                
 PERTH, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Oil climbed towards $40 a barrel
on Tuesday, partly reversing overnight losses, as some
investors took positions ahead of the approval of a $800
billion-plus stimulus package by the U.S. government as early
as Tuesday.
                                
 But doubts over whether a U.S. bank rescue plan, to be
revealed later in the day, would be enough to stem the global
financial crisis weighed on sentiment, capping oil's gains.
                                
 U.S. light crude for March delivery <CLc1> rose 53 cents to
$40.09 a barrel by 0639 GMT. The contract settled down 61 cents
at $39.56 a barrel on Monday.
                                
 London Brent crude rose 52 cents to $46.54, maintaining a
rare premium against U.S. prices.
                                
 "There isn't a lot of new information out there about the
U.S. stimulus package or bank rescue plan, so the gain is
probably due to some investors taking positions ahead of those
announcements," said Clarence Chu, a trader at Hudson Capital
Energy in Singapore.
                                
 The U.S. stimulus bill -- a mixture of tax cuts and public
spending measures -- passed a key procedural hurdle in the U.S.
Senate on Monday, paving the way for the chamber to pass the
bill on Tuesday. [ID:nN09513209]
                                
 President Barack Obama said only the government could
rescue the world's biggest economy from a "negative spiral", as
investors around the globe looked to the United States to lead
the way out of the global financial crisis. [ID:nN09534948]
                                
 But worries over the impact of the U.S. stimulus package
lingered.
                                
 Dallas Federal Reserve President Bank Richard Fisher said
on Monday that he did not expect the U.S. economy to grow in
2009 and much hinged on the impact of the package that is being
debated by the U.S. congress. [TOPWRAP]
                                
 The global financial crisis, which has thrown a host of
major economies into a recession, has also slashed world fuel
demand and dragged oil prices from a record high of above $147
a barrel in July.
                                
 On Monday, OPEC Secretary-General Abdulla al-Badri
reiterated the group's willingness to cut oil production
further to steady prices at the group's next supply policy
meeting on March 15 in Vienna [nL9347478], but Algerian energy
minister Chakib Khelil said the cartel would be under less
pressure to cut output if oil stabilised near the $40 a barrel
level. [nN09543682]
                                
 Al-Badri said the 12-member group appeared to be
implementing production cuts more thoroughly than expected by
some, with 80 percent compliance.
                                
 A weekly national petroleum report from the U.S. American
Petroleum Institute as well as the U.S. Energy Information
Administration's monthly short-term energy outlook to be
released later on Tuesday will give further direction to
prices, analysts said.
                                
 A Reuters poll showed that U.S. crude inventories rose for
the seventh consecutive time last week, because of a drop in
refinery utilisation and higher imports. [EIA/S]
 (Editing by Ben Tan)