Oil prices slip away from 2015 highs, but market remains tight

Oil prices slip away from 2015 highs, but market remains tight - Oil prices on Wednesday slipped away from two-and-a-half year highs hit the previous session as the gradual resumption of flows through a major North Sea pipeline made up for supply disruption in Libya. But the two outages in quick succession have highlighted how much tighter global oil markets have become a year into supply cuts led by OPEC and Russia. "Crude spiked sharply in reaction to an explosion at a Libyan pipeline...(but) the price spike came with light volumes as London was closed for Boxing Day," said Sukrit Vijayakar, director of energy consultancy Trifecta. Libya lost around 90,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil supplies from a blast on a pipeline feeding Es Sider port on Tuesday. Wednesday's dips were a result of the gradual return of the 450,000 bpd capacity Forties pipeline system in the North Sea. Flows through Forties will return to normal early in the New Year, operator Ineos said. Both the Forties and Libyan outages, which together amount to around 500,000 bpd, are small in a global context where both production and demand are approaching 100 million bpd. But the disruptions highlight that markets have tightened significantly a year into voluntary supply restraint led by top producer Russia and the Middle East-dominated Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Gold Prices Surge Above 3-Three Week Highs Amid Dollar Weakness - Gold prices rose modestly on Tuesday as buyers returned amid continued dollar weakness continued. Gold’s bullish start to the week comes as data showed traders increased their bullish bets on the previous metal last week. Gold notched a second-straight weekly gain last week, closing above its 200-day moving average, a key technical indicator, in a sign of bullish momentum. The United States announced sanctions on two North Korean officials behind their country’s ballistic missile program, while Russia reiterated an offer to mediate to ease tensions between Washington and Pyongyang. The new U.S. steps were the latest in a campaign aimed at forcing North Korea - which has defied years of multilateral and bilateral sanctions - to abandon a weapons program aimed at developing nuclear-tipped missiles capable of hitting the United States. Russia is ready to act as a mediator between North Korea and the United States if both parties are willing for it to play such a role, the Kremlin said. Gold’s bullish start to the week comes as data showed traders increased their bullish bets on the previous metal last week

COPPER- prices gained as smelters in China cut production amid natural gas shortages in some parts of the country - Copper on MCX settled up 1.05% at 464.85 as smelters in China cut production amid natural gas shortages in some parts of the country. Support also seen as profits for China's industrial firms rose at a sharply slower pace in November, as demand and producer price gains eased in further confirmation of ebbing growth in the world's second-largest economy. Profits in November rose 14.9 percent to $120.05 billion, the NBS said on its website on Wednesday. It marked the slowest monthly growth rate since April's 14.0 percent. Earnings were pressured in November by a slower pace of price rises compared to previous months, He Ping of the statistics bureau said in a statement along with the data release. He cited November's 5.8 percent rise in producer prices, down from 6.9 percent in October, noting that it was the biggest month-to-month slowdown in factory inflation this year. More than half of the increase in profits in Jan-Nov came from coal mining and washing, iron and steel smelting and processing, chemicals, and oil and natural gas extraction, He said. While the industrial sector has enjoyed a year-long construction boom that has fueled demand and prices for building materials in a boost to growth, a government-led battle to clean toxic air and a crackdown on financial risks have started to drag on China's economy.

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