Oil prices dived to a three-month low near $48 a barrel on Friday, pushed down by high crude inventories in the United States, slower global demand growth and a rising U.S. dollar. U.S. crude oil prices were down 13 cents to $48.41 a barrel by 0615 GMT, after hitting a low of $48.29, extending losses of almost $2 on Thursday. Oil prices are down around 17 percent from the record-high of $58.28 hit on April 4. Brent crude prices shed 33 cents to $48.01 a barrel, after losing $1.61 on Thursday. said David Thurtell, commodity strategist with Commonwealth Bank of Australia."I think the downside is around $47 a barrel. If prices fall close to that level, OPEC will probably start making noises about cutting production"- said David Thurtell, commodity strategist with Commonwealth Bank of Australia.Qatari Energy Minister Abdullah al-Attiyah said on Thursday it was too early for OPEC to decide to curb production, despite the drop in prices. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is scheduled to meet on June 15 to plan its production for the second half of 2005. While OPEC oil to be shipped in the four weeks to May 28 continued to rise by 230,000 barrels per day (bpd) from April levels, loadings showed signs of slowing from a mid-May peak, a leading shipping analyst said on Thursday. Total spot and term shipments or exports to customers from OPEC's 11 producers, including Iraq, rose to 24.52 million bpd, said Roy Mason of consultancy Oil Movements. Weakness in the dollar earlier this year helped boost oil prices by insulating non-dollar economies from the impact of higher energy costs. Investment funds also switched from treasury markets into commodities and energy. Further gains in the dollar could place more downward pressure on oil, traders said. Thurtell said the latest round of price falls was driven more by the strong dollar than high U.S. inventories, which rose to a six-year high of 329.7 million barrels for the week ended May 6, U.S. government data showed. But many big investment funds, which played a major role in sending oil prices to record levels this year, see the dip below $50 as a buying opportunity, a Reuters survey showed. They believe that while prices might dip a bit more, limited spare output capacity and strong Chinese demand would soon push oil back above $50, despite the International Energy Agency saying that high prices were slowing oil demand growth in China, Europe and the United States.