Oil market speculators will be feeling little festive cheer after a year of being bashed by politicians. But they are an essential part of a market that is struggling to place an overhang of oil. Demand is crashing in OECD economies. Projections for demand in India and China - the main engines of the oil market since 2004 - have been sharply scaled back. Global oil consumption is now projected to fall this year and next, the first two-year demand contraction in 25 years. Inventories are rising on land and at sea. For producers, this is a most unwelcome Christmas stocking.
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