*

Benchmark contracts head for weekly loss of nearly 3%

*

Sinopec sees China's crude imports possibly peaking in

2025

*

JPMorgan sees 1.2 mln bpd global oil surplus in 2025

(Updates prices in paragraph 2)

By Jeslyn Lerh

SINGAPORE, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Friday

on worries about demand growth in 2025, especially in top crude

importer China, putting global oil benchmarks on track to end

the week down nearly 3%.

Brent crude futures fell by 33 cents, or 0.45%, to

$72.55 a barrel by 0730 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude

futures eased 32 cents, or 0.46%, to $69.06 per barrel.

Chinese state-owned refiner Sinopec said in its annual

energy outlook released on Thursday that China's crude imports

could peak as soon as 2025 and the country's oil consumption

would peak by 2027 as diesel and gasoline demand weaken.

"Benchmark crude prices are in a prolonged consolidation

phase as the market heads towards the year-end weighed by

uncertainty in oil demand growth," said Emril Jamil, senior

research specialist at LSEG.

He added that OPEC+ would require supply discipline to perk

up prices and soothe jittery market nerves over continuous

revisions of its demand growth outlook. The Organization of the

Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, together called OPEC+,

recently cut its growth forecast for 2024 global oil demand for

a fifth straight month.

Meanwhile, the dollar's climb to a two-year high also

weighed on oil prices, after the Federal Reserve flagged it

would be cautious about cutting interest rates in 2025.

A stronger dollar makes oil more expensive for holders of

other currencies, while a slower pace of rate cuts could dampen

economic growth and trim oil demand.

JPMorgan sees the oil market moving from balance in 2024 to

a surplus of 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2025, as the

bank forecasts non-OPEC+ supply increasing by 1.8 million bpd in

2025 and OPEC output remaining at current levels.

In a move that could pare supply, G7 countries are

considering ways to tighten the price cap on Russian oil, such

as with an outright ban or by lowering the price threshold,

Bloomberg reported on Thursday.

Russia has circumvented the $60 per barrel cap imposed in

2022 using its "shadow fleet" of ships, which the EU and Britain

have targeted with further sanctions in recent days.

(Reporting by Colleen Howe in Beijing and Jeslyn Lerh in

Singapore; Editing by Sonali Paul and Muralikumar Anantharaman)