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

[tomboudreau]

And the price is also tanking today as its under 38 dollars a barrell.

[Derek Ortt]

if oil keeps tanking, Opec cannot keep cutting production. They just won't get enough revenue

if they increase production, they devalue oil even further.

I wonder if it will drop to the 1998-99 levels

[cycloneye]

$36.22 was the close of the oil market on Thursday as demand for oil continues to go down.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/28284727

[HURAKAN]

Below $34:

http://www.business-standard.com/india/ ... 1/51534/on

[Derek Ortt]

was hearing on Glenn Beck today that if oil gets below 30, Russia will be endanger of going bankrupt

[Derek Ortt]

hopefully, the nationwinde gas prices will go back to the $1.35 range where they belong

[cycloneye]

Oil closed on Friday at $33.87.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/28302141

[Derek Ortt]

Oil is down on the day but well over $40

why you may ask? Because the January contract closed and we are now trading the February contract, which was about 25% higher than the January contract

[cycloneye]

Despite the Febuary contract well over $40,the oil market closed below it ($39.91) $2.45 down or 5.78 percent lost.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/28341201

[Cyclenall]

Gas prices are now down to $0.66 a litre here in many places of Ontario! I never thought I would see that again! The only problem now is fixing a few gas shortages in certain areas.

[Dionne]

We recently returned from a celebration cruise (end of treatment) to the Yucatan peninsula. The price of the cruise was adjusted to meet the high oil prices. There was a $90 fuel surcharge. We were told that if oil dropped below $70 for a period of 25 days before sailing we would get an OBC (on board credit). On one day the price of crude jumped to $70.58 for several minutes. On the day of departure crude was around $40. There were 2100 people on board the Carnival Fantasy when it departed New Orleans. Several days into the cruise folks began to question the OBC and why it was not showing up on our accounts. Carnival Cruise lines used the 58 cent two minute spike to deny the OBC for all passengers. Carnival made a profit of $94,500.

[gtalum]

It wasn't above $70 for "a few minutes". Crude oil actually closed above $70 for a day. Carnival stood by their official policy. There's nothing wrong with that.

The other cruise lines were still charging fuel surcharges on all sailings until well after Carnival dropped theirs.

[Dionne]

It wasn't above $70 for "a few minutes". Crude oil actually closed above $70 for a day. Carnival stood by their official policy. There's nothing wrong with that.

The other cruise lines were still charging fuel surcharges on all sailings until well after Carnival dropped theirs.

Really? What day was that? And what did it close at? Do you have a link, please? This is information we were given while still on board. If you will check the replies in cruisecritic.com, you will find there isn't any consistency with the fuel surcharge rebates by CCL. Some folks actually got a partial rebate of $10 against the $45 PP.

[vbhoutex]

hopefully, the nationwide gas prices will go back to the $1.35 range where they belong

I paid 1.359 for gas yesterday!! Quite a surprise and a welcome one!! I do hope it settles in this area or even lower.

[gtalum]

Really? What day was that? And what did it close at? Do you have a link, please? This is information we were given while still on board. If you will check the replies in cruisecritic.com, you will find there isn't any consistency with the fuel surcharge rebates by CCL. Some folks actually got a partial rebate of $10 against the $45 PP.

First of all, rumors from other folks on board cannot be relied upon as factual information. Rumors abound in that business, most of them aren't true.

Here is a chart showing closing prices. You can see the blip above $70 in November.



Remember, this chart shows only closing prices.


Carnival stated very clearly that if oil closed below $70 every day for the 25 days immediately preceding departure, they would refund the fuel surcharge for that sailing. Remember that they don't just pull up to the dock and say "Fill 'er up!". They contract for fuel months in advance, and likely had a deal with their supplier to reduce their bunker fuel costs under similar conditions that they used to eliminate fuel surcharges.

[Dionne]

I see the spike above 70.....although how can you tell this was November 14? That's 25 days for us. We got an email about a week before departure telling us we would get the OBC providing crude stayed below 70. It just didn't happen. We were going to use this credit for tips. We ended up cash tipping one person.....our room steward.

Are you a TA or frequent cruiser? Do you work for Carnival? How did you know about the 25 days? Thousands of people got the email telling us about the 25 days. Everyone on board expected the credit. It turned the info desk into a nightmare station.

Is it possible our TA got the credit and we just have not received it yet?

I think your wrong about your rumor idea. The folks we sat with for dinner each evening told us about the spike over 70. They are frequent travelers to Mexico. They travel twice a year to Mexico to purchase meds he needs, which are a lot cheaper down there.

I really need to know the specific date the spike happened before I call CCL.

Thanx for your research.

[JonathanBelles]

Gas prices hit five-year low
The national average price of regular unleaded gasoline falls to $1.63 a gallon matching a level not seen since February 2004.

December 27, 2008: 12:20 PM ET

New York (CNNMoney.com) -- Drivers returning home from the Christmas holiday this weekend will be paying less for gasoline than they have in in five years, according to a survey of credit card swipes at service stations across the nation..

The national average price dropped for its eighth consecutive day to $1.630 a gallon, down 1.2 cents from the previous day, according to the motorist group AAA.

The national average last hit close to the current price on Feb. 18, 2004, when it averaged at $1.63.

Prices are down 60% from the record high of $4.114 a gallon touched on July 17.

Gas remains is below $2 in all 48 contiguous sates and the District of Columbia, according to AAA. The highest average gas price was in Alaska ($2.53), while the cheapest was found in Utah ($1.45).

The AAA figures, compiled by Oil Price Information Services, are state-wide averages based on credit card swipes at up to 100,000 service stations across the nation.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/12/27/news/ec ... tm?cnn=yes

[HURAKAN]

It doesn't makes sense for Alaska to have the highest oil price in the country.

[Dionne]

It doesn't makes sense for Alaska to have the highest oil price in the country.

There is only one small refinery in Alaska. Tesoro. It's on the Kenai peninsula, they refine crude from the Cook Inlet rigs. All the crude from Prudhoe Bay leaves Alaska via tankers out of Valdez. British Petro owns 51% of the Prudhoe crude.

[gtalum]

I see the spike above 70.....although how can you tell this was November 14? That's 25 days for us. We got an email about a week before departure telling us we would get the OBC providing crude stayed below 70. It just didn't happen. We were going to use this credit for tips. We ended up cash tipping one person.....our room steward.

Are you a TA or frequent cruiser? Do you work for Carnival? How did you know about the 25 days? Thousands of people got the email telling us about the 25 days. Everyone on board expected the credit. It turned the info desk into a nightmare station.

Is it possible our TA got the credit and we just have not received it yet?

I think your wrong about your rumor idea. The folks we sat with for dinner each evening told us about the spike over 70. They are frequent travelers to Mexico. They travel twice a year to Mexico to purchase meds he needs, which are a lot cheaper down there.

I really need to know the specific date the spike happened before I call CCL.

Thanx for your research.

This other chart shows that the relevant light sweet crude oil contract closed at $70.53 on November 4. Remember the 25 days mentioned by Carnival is 25 trading days, not 25 calendar days, and that the 25 trading-day period ends 5 days before cruise departure. That's 6 full weeks, meaning that if your cruise departed before December 18 (it would have been the 17th, but Thanksgiving is also not an oil-trading day) you are not entitled to the fuel surcharge rebate. If your cruise departed on or after the 18th, you should have received the rebate as a credit on your "Sail and Sign" statement. Your TA should have nothing to do with it.

If you do have an email directly from Carnival stating differently, then you have a case and should contact Carnival right away to demand compensation.

I'm a frequent cruiser, and a poster over at CruiseCritic.com. That's how I learned about the Carnival policy. I have a few Carnival cruises booked for next year so it does concern me specifically.