Oil was steady below $78 today after China's fourth-quarter growth came in in-line with expectations and the World Bank said global economic recovery may run out of steam.
China's annual gross domestic product growth accelerated in the fourth quarter to 10.7 per cent from 8.9 per cent in the third quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said today.
But world growth could falter as governments pull back some of the extraordinary liquidity they pumped into markets, the World Bank said yesterday.
US crude oil for March delivery, the new front-month contract after February expired yesterday, rose 7 cents to $77.81 a barrel. Prices hit their lowest this year at $76.76 on Tuesday.
London Brent crude declined 6 cents to $76.26 today.
A 4 trillion yuan ($585 billion) fiscal stimulus package was complemented by an unprecedented surge in lending by China's predominantly state-owned banks, ensuring that the nation was the first major economy to recover decisively from the credit crunch.
But the government has signalled it will tighten credit this year, calling on banks to increase reserves and curb lending.
The World Bank said in its annual Global Economic Prospects report for 2010 that the subdued recovery in the world economy, led by China and India, poses special risks for developing countries that might face stiffer borrowing costs, reduced credit and capital flows.
China's industrial production increased 18.5 percent last month compared to expectations for a 20 per cent jump.
An unexpected drop in US crude stockpiles shown by an industry report had little impact on prices. The American Petroleum Institute said after the settlement on Wednesday that inventories fell 1.8 million barrels last week against forecasts for a 2.4 million barrel build.
The nation's distillate inventories, which include heating oil supplies, dropped 3.4 million barrels. The API also said gasoline stocks rose 667,000 barrels.
Government data from the US Energy Information Administration will be published today. Both weekly reports were delayed by a day because of a US holiday on Monday.
Reuters
