WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. oil demand should rebound when the economy recovers, but crude oil imports may not resume growth as rapidly as they did when past recessions ended, government forecasters said on Wednesday.

New domestic petroleum supplies may minimize the need for more imports when the United States comes out of its economic downturn, the Energy Information Administration said.

"U.S. crude oil production is expected to increase, mainly due to the start of operations at several major platforms in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico," EIA, the Energy Department's forecasting arm, said in its weekly review of the oil market.

In addition, "a modest portion" of U.S. fuel demand growth will be met by domestically produced ethanol and other biofuels required by law to increase each year to reduce U.S. reliance on petroleum imports, the agency noted.

The EIA also said oil demand may grow more slowly because of required fuel economy increases for U.S. cars and trucks.

As for which countries are best positioned to provide oil imports as the global economy recovers, the agency said OPEC members will benefit the most.

"It is clear that OPEC members in the Middle East, who have absorbed the bulk of production cuts made in the present global economic downturn and are also adding to their production capacity, are well-situated to supply a major portion of the oil that would be required to meet growing global oil demand as the world economy recovers," the EIA said.

(Reporting by Tom Doggett; Editing by David Gregorio)