The front-month contract on Brent posted further gains on Thursday and in intraday trading even breached 124 USD per barrel (USD/bbl) level. Meanwhile, the price of oil in EUR hit an all-time high (93.14 EUR/bbl). As far as the spread between Brent and WTI is concerned, it has been tightening in past two weeks and yesterday dipped below 16 USD/bbl as the EIA said commercial stocks of oil in Cushing slightly decreased. However, EIA figures again confirmed an unexpected trend of consumption of oil products in 2012. Although the macroeconomic figures have unveiled relatively good condition of the U.S. economy, total product supplied in general and gasoline supplied in particular are seen well below both mid term average and last year’s values. Base Metals Base metals complex saw a mixed trading on Thursday. LME copper posted small losses and closed below 8400 USD per ton level although trade weighted dollar slightly dropped. However, the red metal is still trading at premium at LME in comparison with SHFE. China’s demand seems to remain muted for the time being. However the ICSG confirmed in its latest report that the seasonally adjusted refined balance dipped even into a deeper deficit in November.