Quote :

"Cocktail of concerns push crude to new highs By Kevin Morrison Published: August 5 2005 10:49 | Last updated: August 5 2005 21:01 oil price up Crude oil futures hit another record high this week on a series of factors including the death of King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, a coup in Mauritania, the death of Sudan’s vice-president, refinery problems in the US and concern about another tropical storm brewing in the Caribbean. But probably the most important event this week was the move above $60 by all US oil futures dated until December 2011. This indicates that oil investors expect the current tightness in oil and petroleum product supply to remain in place for the foreseeable future. The US oil futures benchmark September WTI hit a record high of $62.50 a barrel on Wednesday, while WTI contracts for February and March next year popped above $65. In New York afternoon trading on Friday, September WTI added 93 cents to $62.31 a barrel. IPE Brent for September delivery added 95 cents to $61.07 a barrel in London, below Wednesday’s record high of $61.26 a barrel. Francisco Blanch, energy strategist at Merrill Lynch, said the longer dated futures prices were trading more in sync with the near-dated prices. Until the end of 2003, longer dated WTI futures prices struggled to move above $25, while near dated prices trade in volatile moves. Mr Blanch said: “The longer dated prices hardly moved, but that has changed as the market has become more concerned about the lack of spare production capacity in the oil supply chain. “They are not only concerned about supply tightness over the next six months, but the next 12 months, 18 months, 24 months. They are worried that it is going to take a long time before we get back to an oversupply situation,” he said. The concern about the oil market’s ability to withstand any supply disruptions has made oil investors more sensitive to any political or oil industry event that brings uncertainty. Barclays Capital, in a note this week, said: “The oil system, both upstream and downstream, is being run close to sustainable limits, and the tensions created by the absence of slack are now the key drivers of prices.” In the past two weeks a number of US refiners announced a series of unscheduled maintenance work programmes, which will reduce capacity and put more pressure on a refining system already operating close to its working capacity. US refiner Premcor this week temporary shut down its Port Arthur refinery in Texas. This follows a fire at ChevronTexaco’s El Segundo, California refinery, and the continued shutdown of ExxonMobil’s Joliet, Illinois plant. BP shut a unit at its Texas City refinery on July 31 for maintenance. The plant also suffered an explosion and fire last week. Barclays said: “The profusion of recent snags in the US refining system even suggests that, over time, the system is being pushed beyond sustainable limits and, hence, that interruptions are becoming more likely.” Cameron Hanover, a US energy trading company, said the refinery problems tend to affect gasoline disproportionately, because gasoline output accounts for 48 per cent to 55 per cent of the refined barrel. It said production of distillates, which include heating oil and diesel, account for 18 per cent to 24 per cent of the barrel. “Because of recent problems, gasoline output is likely to have been impacted the most,” it said. September Nymex gasoline futures were poised to close at a record high on Friday, rising 2.17 cents to $1.8210 a gallon, and up more than 4 per cent on the week. Another sign of market nervousness was the reaction to political events this week with the smooth transition of power from King Fahd to Crown Prince Abdullah enough to send oil prices to new elevated levels, even though it is very unlikely there is going to be any change in the Kingdom’s oil policy. Political events in two of the world’s poorest countries also raised concerns about future oil supplies from emerging oil producers Mauritania and Sudan."

8/6/2005 5:01:24 PM

http://inflationdata.com/Inflation/Inflation_Rate/Gasoline_Inflation.asp

Nation, City, Price in USD Regular/Gallon
Netherlands Amsterdam $6.48
Norway Oslo $6.27
Italy Milan $5.96
Denmark Copenhagen $5.93
Belgium Brussels $5.91
Sweden Stockholm $5.80
United Kingdom London $5.79
Germany Frankfurt $5.57
France Paris $5.54
Portugal Lisbon $5.35
Hungary Budapest $4.94
Luxembourg $4.82
Croatia Zagreb $4.81
Ireland Dublin $4.78
Switzerland Geneva $4.74
Spain Madrid $4.55
Japan Tokyo $4.24
Czech Republic Prague $4.19
Romania Bucharest $4.09
Andorra $4.08
Estonia Tallinn $3.62
Bulgaria Sofia $3.52
Brazil Brasilia $3.12
Cuba Havana $3.03
Taiwan Taipei $2.84
Lebanon Beirut $2.63
South Africa Johannesburg $2.62
Nicaragua Managua $2.61
Panama Panama City $2.19
Russia Moscow $2.10
Puerto Rico San Juan $1.74
Saudi Arabia Riyadh $0.91
Kuwait Kuwait City $0.78
Egypt Cairo $0.65
Nigeria Lagos $0.38
Venezuela Caracas $0.12

http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/global_gasprices/

I'm moving to Caracas

8/6/2005 5:18:49 PM

there are very "good" reasons why venezuela's gas prices are so low

trust me, you don't want to live there

8/6/2005 5:21:30 PM

why does everyone expect gas prices to go down in the future? it is a product, and the price of it is going to inflate... durrrr...

it isn't like a computer when prices decrease with time...

8/6/2005 5:33:21 PM

It will go down when we're all using hydrogen cars and electricity from nuclear power.

8/6/2005 5:38:05 PM

Prices are not gonna go down until soccor moms and nascar dads stand up and say Im not paying that much money for gas and I will trade in my SUV for a more cost effective mode of logistics. Nearly impossible because Mcdonalds has brain washed them.

8/6/2005 6:18:36 PM

For example, an SUV or mini-van with a diesel engine, possibly hybrid. Yes, air pollution will dramatically increase along with acid rain. But Europeans have learned to live with a higher lung disease rate, so shall we. The relative cleanliness of gasoline is no longer worth it if the price is going to be so high.

Or, more likely, gas prices will fall as soon as other lesser nations finally go bankrupt and can no longer afford the high prices. Has anyone else noticed that third-world industrial indexes are tracking inversely with the price of oil?

[Edited on August 6, 2005 at 6:29 PM. Reason : .]

8/6/2005 6:27:06 PM

my friend just got one of these and it gets 80 miles to the gallon ...


[Edited on August 6, 2005 at 11:23 PM. Reason : oops]

8/6/2005 11:23:24 PM

I declare this the dumbest thread of the day, the level of misinformation contained in the previous 7 posts is mind boggling.

8/6/2005 11:50:16 PM

Nice tactic. Wave your hands and distract people, good way to hold a discussion 'round here.

8/7/2005 12:59:33 AM

^^well then why don't you shed some of your intellect on this thread then instead of just bitching about people's posts?

8/7/2005 3:41:29 AM

Quote :

"Yes, air pollution will dramatically increase along with acid rain."

I guess we'll have to change the lyrics to 'America the Beautiful.'

8/7/2005 12:06:02 PM

It won't be that bad. I doubt the average citizen will even notice. Only statistics will show the difference, in death and illness rates.

8/7/2005 12:12:28 PM

Quote :

"Gas For $3 A Gallon? Place Your Bets Now By WILL RODGERS wjrodgers@tampatrib.com Published: Aug 6, 2005 Advertisement Click here. Gasoline prices keep rising, but you still might get a chance to pocket some cash now that an online bookmaker is laying odds on how high gas will go. PinnacleSports.com set its first line Friday on the cost of a gallon of self-serve, regular unleaded gasoline in the United States. Now, anyone 18 and older with access to the Internet can bet whether pump prices will rise or fall. ``When people are losing money at the pump, why not give them a chance to win some back?'' said Kyle Fratini, spokesman for the Curacao- based company in the Caribbean's Netherlands Antilles. The company had considered taking bets on gas after prices skyrocketed in April, he said. One caveat is that it remains unclear whether online wagering is legal in the United States, although that hasn't stopped millions of Americans from playing online poker and other forms of gambling. According to the 1961 Wire Act, it's illegal to gamble on sporting events across state lines using telephone lines. The horse-racing industry is exempt. It isn't clear whether the law applies to online wagering, Sebastian Sinclair, president of Christiansen Capital Advisors, a consulting firm to the U.S. casino industry, told Bloomberg News in June. The possibility of such a technicality isn't hindering PinnacleSports .com, which proclaims itself the largest sports-betting site on the Internet. The company is seeking wagers on whether the price of a gallon of gas will hit $2.35 by Labor Day, $2.40 by New Year's Day and $3 in Los Angeles and New York by the first day of the new year. Prices are getting pretty close already. The national average price of a gallon of self-serve, regular unleaded gasoline was just shy of $2.31 on Friday, up more than a penny from Thursday and more than 8 cents higher than a month ago. On Friday, the same grade of gasoline hit $2.60 a gallon in New York and $2.62 a gallon in Los Angeles. The action probably will continue to be hot, because crude oil prices have been fluctuating dramatically. On Friday, a barrel of light crude settled at a record $62.31, up 93 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The sports-betting site will use prices as reported on the Daily Fuel Gauge Report from AAA at http://www.fuelgaugereport.com. Fred Rozell, retail director for the Oil Price Information Service, said rising gasoline prices aren't unexpected in August. He said retail gasoline stations across the country have reported strong demand, despite ever-increasing prices. ``Being a nickel away and having 30 days, you'll see prices go about that mark,'' Rozell said when asked about the possibility of gasoline hitting $2.35 a gallon. ``After Labor Day, I would suspect you would see, barring any refinery event or a hurricane, you would see prices go down.'' Sounds like a tip. Reporter Will Rodgers can be reached at (813) 259-7870."

8/7/2005 2:46:25 PM

Quote :

"It will go down when we're all using hydrogen cars and electricity from nuclear power."

Actually it will increase because in order to create hyrdrogen fuel cells one must use an inordinate amount of fossil fuels.

Quote :

"For example, an SUV or mini-van with a diesel engine, possibly hybrid. Yes, air pollution will dramatically increase along with acid rain. But Europeans have learned to live with a higher lung disease rate, so shall we."

proof please. besides, most diesel cars in Europe run off of biodiesel and have proper filters on them so that there is less fucking pollution than from an american automobile.

8/7/2005 3:54:53 PM

You can't filter out sulfur dioxide, idiot.

8/7/2005 4:43:53 PM

they still produce less pollutants than american cars. Besides, most of europe runs off of extremely high biodiesel mixtures.

8/7/2005 4:45:51 PM

Less pollutants, possibly.

Better mileage most definitely.

8/7/2005 8:43:03 PM

in order for us all to use hydrogen cars, there has to be better ways to make the fuel. durrr.

8/7/2005 8:45:27 PM

Quote :

"But probably the most important event this week was the move above $60 by all US oil futures dated until December 2011."

Thats not as bad when you figure in the massive inflation over the next six years.

8/7/2005 8:46:05 PM

Quote :

"You can't filter out sulfur dioxide, idiot. "

their diesel fuel is much better than ours. it has a lot less sulfur in it to begin with.

Quote :

"why does everyone expect gas prices to go down in the future? it is a product, and the price of it is going to inflate... durrrr... it isn't like a computer when prices decrease with time... "

and i don't think the point people are trying to make is that gas prices are going to ever drop substantially. the point is that they very well could decrease some with respect to inflation.


i don't know that they will. i'm not pretending to be an expert on this matter, especially when the "experts" can't even agree.

8/7/2005 9:35:33 PM

Quote :

"You can't filter out sulfur dioxide, idiot."

Its called a better catalytic converter, suited to the superior diesel (as duke mentioned) fuel available in Europe.

8/7/2005 10:38:04 PM