While the first OPEC production cuts since 2008 were inked as Asia slept, the winners and losers from the surprise deal are already becoming clear in the world’s biggest oil-consuming region. U.S. crude is hugging $50 a barrel following Wednesday’s 9.3 percent surge, the biggest since February, and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is projecting further gains of more than 10 percent by the end of the first half as the current oil surplus withers into a deficit. A revival in prices could prove challenging to countries like India and China, which import most of the crude they consume. Yet the region is also home to some of the largest players when it comes to shipping and oil-market infrastructure. “It’s extremely hopeful and optimistic for those traditional manufacturing companies in Asia,” Hong Sung Ki, a commodities analyst at Samsung Futures Inc., said by phone from Seoul. “Oil explorers as well […]