The market was digesting a mixed set of data on US inventories showing increases in crude oil but lower gasoline stockpiles. Posted on 08/24/2005 1:23:32 PM PDT by M. Espinola
NEW YORK (AFX) - Crude oil futures surged to an all-time record high Wednesday of $67.30 usd per barrel in New York, as supply fears were heightened by Tropical Storm Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico.
The price hit at 1830 GMT eclipsed the prior record of $67.10 usd hit earlier this month.
The market was digesting a mixed set of data on US inventories showing increases in crude oil but lower gasoline stockpiles.
The mixed data 'sort of canceled each other out,' said Marshall Steeves at Refco.
'The market was already up before the inventories data.'
Traders were watching Tropical Storm Katrina, 'which could be problematic for production' in the Gulf of Mexico, Steeves said.
Five Day forecast track of Tropical Storm Katrina from NOAA.
graphics added
The perceived vulnerability of supply lines is a major factor supporting prices.
Crude oil exports from Iraq's southern Basra terminal resumed late on Tuesday after a power cut earlier in the day.
In Ecuador, which mostly supplies crude to California, output is still down to around 80 percent of its 530,000-bpd level after attacks on oil infrastructure last week.
Traders were also watching for any disruption in Nigeria, the world's eighth-largest crude exporter, after the state-pricing agency instructed the national oil company to recover costs on sales, implying consumer prices are set to rise dramatically. Previous fuel hikes have led to general strikes.
With some production in the UK North Sea and India already offline, dealers worry that OPEC is pumping flat out and would strain to make up any unexpected outages.
And oil stocks are still doing nothing, trading at 10-12 times trailing earnings. Evidently, the market doesn't yet believe this is real.
Maybe some dividend hikes would be convincing....
Just saw the latest prices at the gas station and bought these..
Need further prognostication!
The rest of us may be doing the very same if this keeps up.
Maybe it's just lazy employees, but the ElCheapo ( har, har, hardee har har... ) station I use quit posting prices about two weeks ago.
I really am thinking about getting a small motorcycle or scooter for daily errands- I try to drive as little as possible, but my wife's Mom needs someone to check her and feed her blasted nasty old cat who lives on another, far away part of her property. So I have one run a day I can't forsake, and usually make all the other stops at stores then.
And naturally, besides the added danger ( we live in a retirement area- lots of blind, deaf, medicated "safer older drivers..." ) that would mean another vehicle to insure, license, and store.
I sure wish they'd drill more offshore!
I would like to see some educated guesses as to what people think the peak price of Oil will be?
Watched the market tanking during the afternood. I first thought that Bush had given a speech. Later I noticed that oil is climbing up to its equilibrium price.
Energy stocks are still a screaming buy
Oh well, one of these is hanging around outside the window.
Since the traders are not part of the solution, they are obviously part of the problem!!! At least they haven't used Tropical Storm Zelda, which is somewhere way out there in the ocean, to pump crude prices. I am going to love it when the downward slide starts. Watch all of those lower Manhattan windows folks, it's going to be quite a show.......
It's time we just went in and got the oil, pay a reasonable 20% profit, and be done with it. If it costs OPEC about $4 a barrel to produce, we could give them $5 and cut our costs by about $55 to $60 a barrel. We're just making a lot of islamic sheiks richer at the cost of our economy and own well being!
Like you said regarding your wife's mum, there are some trips which must be carried out for health reasons.
In urban areas we can hop on the train, bus and trolleys. Commuters living out in sticks & must drive to work, are the ones really hurting.
There will be the typical profit taking within the overall traded energy complex, however there are additional looming oil related problems out there such as Opec's 'nuclear' Iran, which for global economic security - must be addressed soon. I just hope it's not right in the middle of the Northeast's heating oil season, although it appears corrective action could get underway just as the cooler/colder weather set in.
The main question is how much higher will energy prices soar until a petrol inflationary spiral kicks in and drops world-wide consumption.
Whatever, I am not trading in my full size highway car for some dinky matchbox thing with horrible seats & no power :)
I agree. If you think about the development of the Middle-East's oil and natural gas fields, it was American and British oil interests who originally drilled the wells and maintained them.
One Opec nation no longer able to utilize massive amounts of exported oil revenue for the promotion of Arab terrorism is Iraq.
Iran & Saudi Arabia, Opec's number one and number two oil exporters, continue to arm and finance the world's worst threat since WWII - global Islamic jihadism, both the Sunni-Wahabbist & Shi'ite sects.
Each time we & the rest of the world fill up, additional funds filter back to Arabia & Iran in the billions of dollars for the sole purpose of the eventual destruction of the 'infidel' Western economy, coupled with the installation of an international Islamic rule.
The current Iranian (Shi'ites) dictatorship is brazen in their declared pro-jihad objectives via terrorism, while the Saudi rulers are two faced and in no way America's 'ally'. After all they created the very jihadic beast which is now biting the hand of the 'royal' bank-rollers.
I've been bike commuting for years. Can't do it every single day but you would not believe how relatively easy it is.
And did I mention the health and stress benefits?!
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