Oil price over $147 for the first time-now above $80

[Stephanie]

Financial markets had expected a cut in interest rates to help revive the flagging U.S. economy, but now some investors believe the Fed could signal its rate cutting is over.

I sure a sh** hope so! It's already been discussed that the rate reductions are lowering the value of the dollar, thus making gasoline more expensive and everything else for that matter. Just how would another rate decrease help the economy at this stage of the game??? Sure, it's cheaper to borrow, but we're a nation in debt up to our eyeballs as it is - the subprime mortgage really put a fork into the economy. Then again, we'll need to pay for our fill ups at the gas station with our credit cards, so it won't be THAT more expensive!

Also, whatever savings I have left I may as well just put under a mattress since it's not earning anything anyway. I have savings in different mutual funds, cds and savings accounts. Do you know what my bank's saving's rate is? A WHOPPING .5%!! Can they afford it??? I do use ING Direct though, but the .5% rate is just plain old insulting.

Okay, rant over!

[MGC]

Just think how much gas will cost if a big hurricane hits Louisiana or Texas.....MGC

[vbhoutex]

Just think how much gas will cost if a big hurricane hits Louisiana or Texas.....MGC

NO!!!! I don't want to!!!!

[HollynLA]

Just think how much gas will cost if a big hurricane hits Louisiana or Texas.....MGC

I've thought about the exact same thing. If a storm even thinks about entering the GOM, gas prices tend to go higher with the threat. However, if the storm does not do any damage to oil rigs in the GOM, the gas prices go back down............ so who gets the extra $ earned during the increased times? They don't give it back to us even though nothing happened! Now, if damage is done, I don't even want to think about how high gas could get.

[Cryomaniac]

Worst case scenario:

A cat 5 enters the GOM, then later that week the US attacks Iran.

[cycloneye]

Oil prices fall over $3.00 today



A big decline in Oil prices today as the Dollar got stronger and a slumping demand caused the decline.

[Cryomaniac]

Oil prices fall over $3.00 today



A big decline in Oil prices today as the Dollar got stronger and a slumping demand caused the decline.

That's fine, if it carries on.

[Tampa Bay Hurricane]

The dollar is weak; and some of the companies have record profits?
Anyway, let's hope the dollar gets stronger. If it does, oil prices
will plummet.

[Stephanie]

Just think how much gas will cost if a big hurricane hits Louisiana or Texas.....MGC

I know. I thought of that while I was doing my rant in my previous post. *GULP*

[HURAKAN]

Oil companies defend profits
Updated 24 minutes ago

Europe's two biggest oil producers, BP and Royal Dutch Shell, have been defending themselves after recording bigger than expected first quarter profits.

On the back of record crude oil prices, BP posted a 63 per cent profit surge to $US7.6 billion, while Shell reported a 25 per cent rise, to more than nine billion dollars.

Correspondents say the multi-billion dollar profit result has reignited calls in Europe for a windfall tax on the oil companies, as consumers struggle to pay for food and fuel.

But the companies say they are not to blame for the price of crude oil on the market.

Last week, ConocoPhillips reported a 16 per cent profit rise, and more big profits are expected when the US oil majors Exxon Mobil and Chevron report their first-quarter earnings later this week.
_______________________________________________________________

What a shock, oil companies defend profits.

[Stephanie]

Yeah, but they're not upset that their stock prices are astronomical either. I'm sure that they would complain if there were restrictions put on trading oil company's stock.

I'd like to know how much of the windfall profits they've been seeing lately has been actually put back into capital projects. I'd like to see the % increase in that investment compared to the % in their stock and record profits. I'm willing to bet that the real increase is in their bonuses.

[HURAKAN]

Oil prices ease to $115.17

LONDON: Oil prices fell slightly on Wednesday ahead of a decision on US interest rates and energy inventory data, traders said.

Oil prices had closed more than three dollars lower on Tuesday as the US currency recovered and because of easing concerns over tight energy supplies, they added.

New York’s main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for June delivery, fell 46 cents to $115.17 per barrel on Wednesday. New York crude had struck a record high $119.93 on Monday. London’s Brent North Sea crude for June dipped 40 cents to $113.03. The contract had hit an all-time peak of $117.56 last Friday. As oil prices slumped, US President George W Bush said Tuesday that he would not dip into the US strategic oil reserve, saying such action would not help curb prices.

Over the past two weeks, oil prices have smashed through a series of record highs, sparking widespread international concern among consumer nations. Kuwaiti Oil Minister Mohammad al-Olaim said Wednesday that the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) might hold an extraordinary meeting on oil prices before a scheduled conference in September. “If there is any requirement for a meeting, we will not hesitate to meet,” Olaim said.

Meanwhile, traders were awaiting the latest weekly snapshot of US energy inventories, to be published later Wednesday. afp

[cycloneye]

Oil Prices Continue to Fall as Dollar Rises

Good news that oil prices are falling in a good rate since Monday.However,the price at the pump stays the same.

[senorpepr]

Expert Thinks Gas Prices Will Start To Drop

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A local economist said the end of the rapid rise in gas prices is here.

Consumers have heard predictions of $4 and even $5 a gallon of gas, but Chris Keuhl, an economist who specializes in transportation issues, said the oil bubble is ending.

Keuhl said that oil companies and oil-producing nations shouldn't be blamed for high gas prices.

"The countries that are producing don't set the prices. The oil companies don't set the prices. It's the traders that set the prices," said Keuhl with Armada Corporate Intelligence.

Keuhl claims that speculators wounded in the credit crunch went looking for new ground.

"They flooded into commodities -- steel, gold, oil, pork bellies, you name it," Keuhl told KMBC's Micheal Mahoney.

And despite the fact that oil production is up and gasoline consumption is down, speculation by giant investor groups have pushed up the price for a barrel of oil beyond where it should be.

Some financial experts think the credit crisis is starting to ease and the U.S. dollar is settling down, so speculators will move on to something beside the price of oil.

"I think it will come down very quickly. There's $40 to $50 in the price per barrel that's driven by the investors," Keuhl said.

On Thursday, Steve Forbes told French reporters that "There's hardly a hedge fund in North America that hasn't speculated on oil futures."

Both Forbes and Keuhl believe that when the bubble bursts, gasoline prices will drop to just more than $2 a gallon.

"Pretty close -- $2.25 to $2.30 on a national level," Keuhl said.

Keuhl said he thinks oil prices have peaked and will start to drop. However, if drivers flood the highways again, prices will stay up.

There are other economists who don't see it this way. But almost everyone agrees that speculators impact oil prices.

Nationwide, the average price of a gallon of gas is $3.62; in Kansas City, the average is $3.44.

[Derek Ortt]

the oil companies have a very low profit margin

The government mkaes more than 5 times off of oil that the oil companies make.

[gtalum]

the oil companies have a very low profit margin

The government mkaes more than 5 times off of oil that the oil companies make.

Not exactly true. The government makes more on gasoline retail than the oil companies do. The oil companies, though, make a lot of profit on recovery and refining, and on wholesale and retail sales of other petroleum distillates. Gasoline retail is just the last step of many.

The gas tax is one of very few that makes good logical sense. Gas taxes help pay for roads and infrastructure. The people who stress the infrastructure the most pay the most taxes. It makes sense.

[Cryomaniac]

Oil price has gone up $3+ today, any idea why?

[gtalum]

My guess is that speculators moved back in after the price dropped, propping it back up.

[cycloneye]

Oil jumps over $3.00

Oil closed today at $116.32,an increase of over $3.00 over yesterday.The cause of it was this:

On Friday, light, sweet crude for June delivery rose $3.80 to settle at $116.32 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, as Turkish airstrikes on Kurdish rebel bases in Iraq injected supply concerns into the market and gave investors reason to shrug off a strengthening dollar.

[Cryomaniac]

Up nearly $3 at the moment too:

http://www.kitco.com/market/