Summary China's reopening set to drive record 2023 oil demand -IEAChinese oil demand to rebound in 2023 -OPECRecord U.S. shale oil output seen in Feb -EIAAPI reports due at 4.30 p.m.
ET (2130 GMT)LONDON, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Wednesday to their highest since early December on optimism that the lifting of China's strict COVID-19 curbs will lead to a fuel demand recovery in the world's top oil importer.
China's economic growth slowed sharply to 3% in 2022, missing the official target of "around 5.5%" and marking its second-worst performance since 1976.
Analysts polled by Reuters see 2023 growth rebounding to 4.9%.
But OPEC kept its 2023 global demand growth forecast unchanged.