* China beats 2009 growth target after strong Q4
* Concerns Beijing will act to slow growth
* World Bank sees risk from stimulus phase out
* U.S. crude inventories unexpectedly decline-API
(Updates prices, recasts and adds details)
By David Sheppard
LONDON, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Oil rose near $78 a barrel on
Thursday as worries that China will take further measures to
temper its booming economy were overshadowed by its return to
double-digit growth for the first time since 2008.
U.S. crude oil for March delivery <CLc1>, the new
front-month contract, rose 6 cents to $77.80 a barrel by 1525
GMT. Fears that tightening in China would slow consumption
growth in the world's second largest oil consumer capped gains.
London Brent crude <LCOc1> fell 6 cents to $76.26.
China's annual gross domestic product growth accelerated in
the fourth quarter to 10.7 percent -- the fastest in two years
-- from a revised 9.1 percent in the third, the National Bureau
of Statistics (NBS) said on Thursday. []
For all of 2009, China grew 8.7 percent.
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/0110/CN_GDP0110.gif
"Investors will soon have to assess whether this report --
and others like it -- will be strong enough to allow the
commodity rally to continue without alarming the authorities
even further," MF Global analyst Edward Meir said.
World growth could falter as governments pull back some of
the extraordinary liquidity they pumped into markets, the World
Bank said on Wednesday. []
In China, a 4 trillion yuan ($585 billion) stimulus package
was complemented by an unprecedented surge in lending by
predominantly state-owned banks last year.
But the government has signalled it will tighten credit in
2010, calling on banks to increase reserves and curb lending.
On Chinese oil data, the country's December crude runs, or
the amount of crude processed by refiners, jumped 24.8 percent
from a year earlier to a record 8.15 million barrels per day.
Runs were up 7.9 percent overall in 2009. []
"For all of this year we are going to have a big focus on
China because it will be the main driver of demand," said Tony
Nunan, a risk manager with Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Corp.
"Because it is a command-style economy, things can change
quickly. If the Chinese economy just goes boom, then we could go
another step higher. For now, we still have too much inventory
around and too much spare capacity."
U.S. crude reached a 15-month high of $83.95 a barrel on
Jan. 11. Prices are 47 percent below their July 2008 record high
near $150, but have more than doubled from lows near $32 reached
by the end of that year.
The dollar rose to a five-month high against the euro, which
was weighed down by concerns over Greece. A stronger greenback
tends to weigh on dollar-priced commodities as they become more
expensive for holders of other currencies. []
U.S. INVENTORIES
In the U.S., an unexpected drop in crude stockpiles shown by
an industry report on Wednesday had little impact on prices. The
American Petroleum Institute (API) said stocks fell 1.8 million
barrels last week against forecasts for a 2.4 million gain.
The nation's distillate inventories, which include heating
and diesel, dropped a larger-than-expected 3.4 million barrels.
Supplies were forecast to have slid by 100,000 barrels, a
Reuters survey showed. []
Inventory data from the government's Energy Information
Administration (EIA) will be published on Thursday at 1600 GMT.
Both weekly reports were delayed by a day because of a U.S.
holiday on Monday.
(Additional reporting by Alejandro Barbajosa in Singapore;
Editing by Keiron Henderson)
