Posted on 10/31/2007 1:06:23 AM PDT by bruinbirdman
OPEC oil ministers say they are powerless in the face of many factors driving up the price of crude, with one member of the producers' cartel warning that the 'market is out of control'.
Mohammed bin Dhaen al-Hamli, president of Opec, told a conference in London yesterday that record oil prices are the result of speculative investment and international political tensions. "We are of course concerned about high oil prices," he said. But "the market is increasingly driven by forces beyond Opec's control".
However, there were signs yesterday that the inexorable rise in crude prices could be about to ease, with the cost of a barrel slipping on news that Mexico had increased production and investment bank Goldman Sachs saying that it was time for investors to "take profits".
Mr al-Hamli said that Opec, whose members supply about 40pc of the world's oil needs, was "monitoring" the situation and would increase output if necessary. "If the market needs more oil, we will supply it," he said.
But he added that the oil price, up 34pc since mid-August, was the result of geo-political tensions and speculation by traders. Mr al-Hamli did not refer to specific situations, although analysts have pointed to recent problems on the Turkey-Iraq border and speculation by hedge funds as fuelling recent price rises.
Another oil minister, Qatar's Abdullah al-Attiyah, pleaded: "Please don't blame us for $93 oil... The market is out of control." He said that the oil market is "very confused", but added that this had nothing to do with an imbalance between supply and demand, but to factors outside Opec's control.
However, major energy users believe one solution to the current problems would be for Opec to open the taps. "If oil is going up, keeping at this level may hurt the economy, especially nonoil-producing developing countries," said Nobuo Tanaka, executive director of the International Energy Agency, which advises large oil-consuming countries.
The head of the US Energy Information Administration, Guy Caruso, said: "Our view continues to be that the market is fundamentally tight. We think that the market still needs more barrels as we head out into the next year or so."
US oil futures fell by $3.02 to $90.51 a barrel yesterday, after hitting a record high of $93.80 in the previous session. In London Brent fell $2.40 to $87.92, down from Monday's peak of $90.49.
Oil analysts at Goldman Sachs, which in July predicted that oil may reach $95 a barrel, told investors yesterday that it was time to "sell" oil.
Let's reinterpret this. "It's vacation/holiday time in America. It's time to rape them."
Same old gouge, gouge, gouge, excuses, excuses, excuses.
What I can’t get is why E85 goes up along with oil prices.
E85 is only 15% gasoline. It cost just a tad more than a gallon of gas when it was $40 a barrel. Why is it still a tad more than a gallon of regular gas when it only has 15% regular gas per gallon now?
gouge, gouge, gouge. They’re all a bunch of crooks, and of course governments make all the more money in taxes as well.
Maybe the costs for war a higher then expected....
OPEC probably wanted to see a price range from 55 to 65, with spikes up into the 70’s. But they are also astute enough to understand that $100/barrel oil and higher will eventually be a threat to their individual national security from China or Europe.
E85 is transported how?
Hey, Hi Heels, somebody has a lot of contracts and it won’t last long. Find out who is taking real delivery and who is not. Go from there. Everybody knows there is a scam here. I’m out.
Mohammed bin Dhaen al-Hamli, president of Opec, told a conference in London yesterday that record oil prices are the result of speculative investment and international political tensions.
Global warming? Democrats buying GASOLINE IN RECORD AMOUNTS?(Levin moment)
Somebody is pulling a scam. It will fall apart like the Silver scam in the 70’s. Just wait. The market will come crashing down hard on these people. Just wait. Hi Heels, you play.
there was also an amazing growth bubble in housing
how is that going now
it is probably a much bigger scam than the 70’s Silver scam, speculators could not drive it this far.
I think it is one piece of the war we find ourselves in. Most likely Iran, Chavez, and a few others are giving oil away for almost free to some nations, and we are paying for it.
More likely they know that $100+/barrel oil means that the alternative energy front will gain steam and they will ultimately loose market share if another comparable energy source or sources take hold and crude prices stay this high. E85, fuel cells, biodiesel, hydrogen injection, and state-of-the-art battery technology are all threats that seek to take their market share away, especially if the crude price stays high....
All I know is that I’m consciously driving less.
Because the price of E85 is also affected by supply and demand. When petroleum based fuel goes up in price, the demand for E85 goes up.
“”What I can’t get is why E85 goes up along with oil prices.””
It takes a lot of oil to grow and harvest corn!!! Haven’t you wondered why the oil companies aren’t whining about Congress’s ethanol mandates? Instead of making money selling gasoline to drivers, the oil companies make money selling diesel fuel to farmers, fertilizer to farmers and diesle fuel to truckers. They are getting their profits either way.
It kinda’ makes you wonder why ethanol is considered “green”.
Just ignore those three battlegroups keeping Iran out of their backyard.
BUMP
Who is the biggest player in the oil market? Isn’t it OPEC? Then they have control over the market -
BUT - the idea is to eventually have those tractors burning bio-diesel (grown on the farms), to plant and harvest the corn for E85, thus eventually at least partially helping to make a more closed cycle with less petroleum involved.
For every gallon of alcohol it takes about two gallons of water, about a 100 lbs of coal, and untold gallons of oil.
Only a complete idiot uses food for fuel.
Using E85 does more harm to the environment than just about any other energy source.
Ethanol is not the answer.
1. It isn't economical to produce in the sense that the real costs to produce a unit volume require an expenditure in energy that is sufficiently large to keep the price on par with petroleum products.
2. The energy density of ethanol is far lower than gasoline. Check your mileage with E85 vs. regular gasoline and you'll see what I mean.
Fact is when you control for miles driven, the E85 is not a good deal from a cost standpoint. It costs you more per mile.
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