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

[Stephanie]

I also heard that speculators are predicting $150 a barrel by the 4th of July? Screw $4/gallon...is $5/gallon coming soon?

If they are ALLOWED to speculate it to over $150 per gallon.

My local gas station had dropped regular by 4 cents today to $3.79. I'm sure it will be 4 + cents more tomorrow.

Unfreakin' believable!!!

[Ivanhater]

Well I take some comfort that we all are in this together..Not alone in this hardship and madness! Being a broke college student is hard enough! lol

[HURAKAN]

I continue to say that there has to be a point in which it has to stop or our way of life will have to changed dramatically. Now, back to the horse and carriage!!!

[feederband]

I continue to say that there has to be a point in which it has to stop or our way of life will have to changed dramatically. Now, back to the horse and carriage!!!

I think the old American way we were used to is gone...

[Dionne]

NYMEX crude 138.54, an increase of 10.75 in one day! An 8.41% increase.

[Stephanie]

Well I take some comfort that we all are in this together..Not alone in this hardship and madness! Being a broke college student is hard enough! lol

You're right about that.

I'm afraid of what this is also going to do with the already fragile airline industry. We may need to bail out some of these companies in order to save that industry and our economy further. We'd be crippled.

[gtalum]

Nah, what the airline industry needs is for at least two of the so-called "Big Six" (AA, United, Delta, US Airways, Northwest, and Continental) to go out of business. That will allow them to raise fares which is what they need to do to survive.

[Cryomaniac]

Nah, what the airline industry needs is for at least two of the so-called "Big Six" (AA, United, Delta, US Airways, Northwest, and Continental) to go out of business. That will allow them to raise fares which is what they need to do to survive.

I can't see that happening.

[gtalum]

I can't see that happening.

You're probably right, the government would rather prop them up at our expense. But in the long term that's what NEEDS to happen to make the industry healthy again.

[Nimbus]

I don't think oil will break out of the trading range for the next several weeks.

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/8134 ... nesxw3.jpg

If oil does break $150 it would happen at the end of June.

It's interesting that Asia is now starting to horde oil and we are reading about tensions building in the middle east. The $150 a barrel prediction sounds realistic given those additional parameters.

[Stephanie]

Nah, what the airline industry needs is for at least two of the so-called "Big Six" (AA, United, Delta, US Airways, Northwest, and Continental) to go out of business. That will allow them to raise fares which is what they need to do to survive.

I can't see that happening.

They're nickeling and diming passengers for everything now - fee for checking bags, fuel surcharges, cancellation of flights and layoffs. I don't think any of the "Big Six" are healthy and I can see at least one of them going under, especially US Airways.

[lurkey]

Airlines Start Charging A "Weight Fee"?
Reporting
Dana Kozlov
CHICAGO (CBS) ― With soaring fuel prices, airlines have been trying to cut costs where ever they can. On Thursday, Continental Airlines announced around 3,000 layoffs.

But as CBS 2's Dana Kozlov reports, there's another way airlines can make up the money by easing their load on gas. But will it fly?


It's been a bumpy ride for the airline industry of late. Carriers have slashed services and raised fees to try and stay in the air, angering lots of flyers.

American now charges $15 for one checked bag; Delta charges $25 for a phone reservation. Since record high fuel prices are a big part of the problem, some airlines have been looking to boost fuel efficiency, too, by eliminating extra weight. Could the next step be fares based on a person's size?

At O'Hare International Airport Thursday afternoon, traveler Kathy Michalski said, "Oh crump! Not now. 20 years ago I would've been fine."

Still, it's an idea floating around in cyberspace and aviation expert Aaron Gellman said he understands one airline pitched the plan for a Far East route. So instead of just baggage on the scale, passengers would stand on it, too, and would be charged based on their weight.

Gellman didn't think it would fly. "What are you going to do about the people who weigh less? Are they going to get some of their money back? The whole thing seems to me to be rather silly."

He wasn't the only one.

Air traveler Erika Lopez said, "I heard that. I think that's ridiculous and they're going to force people to stop flying."

But one passenger seemed to agree with the notion. Mike Schulp said, "The airlines are really strict on weight on your baggage. I think they should, yeah, definitely look at people's weight."

[Cryomaniac]

Nah, what the airline industry needs is for at least two of the so-called "Big Six" (AA, United, Delta, US Airways, Northwest, and Continental) to go out of business. That will allow them to raise fares which is what they need to do to survive.

I can't see that happening.

They're nickeling and diming passengers for everything now - fee for checking bags, fuel surcharges, cancellation of flights and layoffs. I don't think any of the "Big Six" are healthy and I can see at least one of them going under, especially US Airways.

As gtalum said, I think the government would at least try to support them. If only to help public perception of the economy.

[Stephanie]

I definitely think that the government will have to help the airlines in some shape or form.

[cycloneye]

DUBAI (Reuters) - OPEC members saw no need on Sunday to pump more oil in response to last week's double-digit surge in oil prices to over $139 a barrel that top exporter Saudi Arabia described as unjustified.

OPEC will not increase production



They say that there is plenty of oil to supplie the demand and there is not a need to increase oil production.

[george_r_1961]

Someone help me out here:

Theres plenty of oil. Yet the speculators keep forecasting outrageous per barrel prices.

And lo and behold oil goes up

Self fulfilling prophecy perhaps? Or is it something else..commonly known as GREED

[HURAKAN]

There's plenty of oil but the amount being taken out of the Earth hasn't increased while popular demand has continued to increase. More demand than supply means higher prices. Remember that OPEC controls around 2/3 of the oil producing countries and they have decided not to increase the amount of oil being produced. That's one of the problems. One of the largest events that have been occurring over the past decade or so is the rapid increase in China's economy. Now they consume a lot more oil and supply continues almost the same. The weak dollar is another problem, a major problem in my opinion.

[Stephanie]

Oil is a finite resource. We need other sources of fuel.

OPEC is probably making a bundle on this from the speculation, particularly because the dollar is so low. I think that is one of the main reasons why the speculation is so heavy. It's not necessarily the supply, though I would think with the increase in consumption, it would be needed, but the way that the oil is valued. The lower the dollar the more it costs us - the value is lower, even though the demand is up. Therefore, the cost of bringing it to market goes up.

[dizzyfish]

I heard on the radio this morning that the national average for regular gasoline is now over $4.00/gal.

[cycloneye]

[US@CL.1 134.3 -4.24 (-3.06%)] closed at $134.35 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down $4.19, or 3 percent, for the session.

Oil Tumbles over $4

A dramatic tumble in oil prices today after the over $11 spike last friday.