* Preliminary April consumer sentiment data due later
* Fall in OPEC seaborne exports offers price support
(Updates with prices, China, Venezuela)
By Jennifer Tan
SINGAPORE, April 17 (Reuters) - Oil eased below $50 a
barrel on Friday, paring Thursday's gains as mixed U.S.
economic data spotlighted the fragile nature of a possible
recovery in the world's top energy user.
Crude's Thursday rise was fuelled by a surge on Wall Street
and data showing the number of U.S. workers filing new claims
for jobless benefits unexpectedly fell last week, though
continuing claims rose to a record as the recession bites.
[]
Preliminary April consumer sentiment data due later on
Friday, could throw light on whether the rate of contraction in
the U.S. economy is easing.
By 0725 GMT, U.S. crude for May delivery <CLc1> was down 27
cents at $49.71 a barrel, after having risen 1.5 percent
earlier to $49.98. ICE Brent crude for the new front-month of
June <LCOc1> was down 8 cents at $52.98 a barrel.
Crude has fallen about 4.8 percent so far this week.
"Crude will probably finish the week around $50 -- there's
not a lot of movement in either direction, and demand
fundamentals still look increasingly bearish," said Jim
Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch and Associates.
"Next week, the market will be watching for the expiration
of the WTI May contract on Tuesday, and there's a strong chance
we could break below $47 on the downside."
The Paris-based International Energy Agency, the U.S.
Energy Information Administration and the Organization of
Petroleum Exporting Countries have all cut global oil demand
forecasts.
The collapse in demand has seen U.S. crude oil inventories
soaring to their highest level in 19 years, gaining 5.6 million
barrels last week alone, the EIA's weekly report showed.
The Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers
will release its preliminary April consumer sentiment index at
1355 GMT. Economists in a Reuters poll expect a reading of 58.5
compared with 57.3 in the final March report.
U.S. stocks rallied on Thursday as expectations of
reassuring results from bellwethers, including Google, lifted
technology shares, while JPMorgan's better-than-expected profit
added to bank stabilisation hopes. []
On the supply front, prices were supported by news that
OPEC's seaborne oil exports, excluding Angola and Ecuador,
would fall 560,000 barrels per day in the four weeks to May 2,
according to the latest estimate by UK consultancy Oil
Movements. []
Venezuelan energy minister Rafael Ramirez said on Thursday
that oil prices have begun stabilising with a floor of $45 per
barrel. []
OPEC meets at the end of May in Vienna to decide if it will
cut output again to support prices.
Crude prices have tumbled nearly $100 per barrel since last
July, as the global recession dented oil demand, but they have
recovered in recent months from a low of $32.40 in December.
Amid the gloom, China's refinery output ticked up in March
from a year earlier, its first rise in five months as refiners
ramped up supply amid signs of a demand recovery in the world's
second-largest oil consumer.
Higher refinery production, coupled with the second-highest
ever daily crude imports last month, point to a strong rebound
in Chinese fuel demand after a tepid 0.5 percent rise in
February, and three months of decline prior to that.
[]
(Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
