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Oil rises above $50 on OPEC cuts, Russian natural gas dispute

Posted Jan 6th 2009 9:55AM by Joseph Lazzaro (RSS feed)
Filed under: International markets, Russia, Middle East, Commodities, Oil

There's nothing like a supply cut and geopolitical tension to put a floor under oil's price.

Oil popped above $50 a barrel Tuesday after Kuwait and Qatar indicated they will implement supply cuts announced last month, and Russia shutoff gas shipments to Europe stemming from its natural gas dispute with Ukraine.

Oil rose $1.66 to $50.47 per barrel. Natural gas rose 10 cents to $6.18 per million BTUs. The price of oil has risen about $12 in two weeks.

Economist Richard Felson said Tuesday geopolitical tension has re-entered the oil price equation. "Demand is so weak, prices should not be rising. And had they occurred alone, neither the Russian natural gas dispute nor Middle East tension would be enough to increase prices either," Felson said. "But the geopolitical tension combined with OPEC's production cut has been enough to attract oil buyers back to the market."

Continue reading Oil rises above $50 on OPEC cuts, Russian natural gas dispute

Oil closes at record $109.93 on dollar flight, U.S. recession fears

Posted Mar 12th 2008 4:19PM by Joseph Lazzaro (RSS feed)
Filed under: International markets, Bad news, Commodities, Oil

Stocks rise and fall, bonds can reach default status, and housing? Well, we know what can happen to home prices, at least cyclically. But oil knows only one direction: vertical. Or so it seems, lately.

Oil closed Wednesday up $1.17 to $109.92, another record-high close, driven to new levels of the stratosphere by the falling dollar -- which hit a new record low of $1.55 versus the euro -- and continuing concern that the U.S. Federal Reserve's credit market infusions will not be enough to prevent the U.S. economy from tailspinning into a deep recession. Earlier in the session, oil traded at an all-time high of $110.20, breaching the $110 level for the first time.

The other major energy commodities also closed higher. Heating oil gained about 3 cents to $3.03 per gallon, unleaded gasoline rose 1 cent to $2.72 per gallon, and natural gas rose about 1 cent to $10.05 per million BTUs.

Continue reading Oil closes at record $109.93 on dollar flight, U.S. recession fears

Three dollar gas? You know you'll pay it

Posted May 1st 2007 12:35PM by Tom Barlow (RSS feed)
Filed under: Exxon Mobil (XOM), BP p.l.c. ADS (BP)

Gas has broken the $3.00 mark in many U.S. markets, already above the Energy Information Administration's projection of $2.84 for this spring. Although crude oil prices have dropped recently, bottlenecks at the refinery level have driven gasoline higher.

So go ahead, rant a bit. I'll wait. Don't forget to curse Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) and BP p.l.c. ADS (NYSE:BP).

Now for the ugly truth. I'll pay it. You'll pay it. Why? Look at the alternatives --
  • Car pooling? Sure, that works if your pool partners have good hygiene, aren't attractive enough to threaten your spouse, don't chatter on endlessly about the Cardinals or their nephew the doctor, don't drive too damn fast or too damn slow, don't respond to their voicemail in a voice like a foghorn, and don't need to make just one teeny stop at the dry cleaners.
  • How about public transportation? It probably works well in large cities such as New York, but for most of us, public transit equals losing half an hour's sleep, walking to the bus/train stop, breathing diesel, latching onto every bug spread by people for cryin' out loud don't you know enough to cover your mouth when you cough, and wet shoes. Always, the wet shoes.
  • How about walking? It's about six miles from my house to downtown, about an hour and a half each way. At the fed's $.45 per mile, call it $4 and change a day, round trip. My time is worth more than the $1.33 an hour I'd save. Not to mention the added cost of beer (a nice pub in the Short North), falafels, and other enticements along my route.
A population that spends billions of dollars a year on Nuticles, Elvis bobble-heads and bowling, won't be scared onto their feet by three-dollar gas. After all, isn't that why God invented credit?

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Last updated: November 11, 2009: 04:13 AM

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