Oil Down as Supply Fears Ease, Funds Exit LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices slipped further from record highs on Monday as easing concern about winter supplies prompted further profit-taking from big-money hedge funds. U.S. light crude (CLc1: Quote , Profile , Research ) fell 59 cents to $49.01 a barrel, more than $6.50 below the all-time peak at $55.67 struck on Oct 25. London Brent crude (LCOc1: Quote , Profile , Research ) was down 52 cents at $45.90 a barrel. Rising crude and natural gas stockpiles in the United States and signs that high energy costs are hurting economic growth have gradually eroded a rally that had lifted prices more than 50 percent this year. As confidence grows over supplies for the northern winter, speculative hedge funds cut their long positions in New York crude oil futures to the lowest levels in a year, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Friday. "The longs have made pretty good profits from this market and now they're taking their money out. Maybe the oil story has run its course," said David Thurtell, Sydney-based commodities strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Heavy fund buying has helped drive oil's rally this year as poor returns on equity markets and big falls in the dollar's value drew speculators to look for profits in commodities markets instead. While the dollar fell to a fresh record low against the euro on Monday, this time it is other markets that are seeing fresh buying interest. "Investors may be looking at other markets now, particularly equities, if they think that oil's had its day," said Thurtell. Gold prices rose to a fresh 16-year high on Monday. PAST THEIR PEAK? Robust growth in oil demand this year has forced producers to pump almost at full throttle, and analysts are now looking for signals as to whether the supply surge is finally bringing prices from their peaks. A surge in output to more than 30 million bpd by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which controls around half world exports, has helped replenish U.S. crude stocks by 10 million barrels in the past two weeks. This has allayed supply concerns that have plagued the market since September's Hurricane Ivan, which knocked out more than a quarter of Gulf of Mexico production for weeks. As of Friday, the region's oil output had recovered to 87.5 percent of its 1.7 million bpd capacity. Crude exports from the north of Iraq to Turkey resumed on Friday following pipeline repairs after sabotage attacks. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) warned on Friday that growth in the group of 30 industrialized countries was likely to slow in the months ahead, which could reduce demand for energy. Quelle "Oil Down as Supply Fears Ease, Funds Exit" : reuters.com Main page for "Oil Down as Supply Fears Ease, Funds Exit"