Oil prices flipped between gains and losses Friday, as investors weighed the prospects for lower production levels against building oil products in storage. Light, sweet crude for February delivery was recently up 16 cents, or 0.3%, at $53.92 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices rose as high as $54.32 and as low as $53.46 earlier in the session. Brent, the global benchmark, was recently up four cents, or 0.1%, at $56.93 a barrel. Prices have been buoyed this morning by the decision by Royal Dutch Shell PLC to close down the 140,000-barrel-a-day Trans-Niger Bonny Light pipeline. The company cited a fire as the reason for the shutdown, but the situation highlights the continuing struggle in Nigeria with attacks on the country’s oil infrastructure. “The Nigerian government is reported restarting to pay peace-allowance to militants. This will probably ease things but it will take time before world […]