Crude Futures Rise to New High Above $57

eom

I think a real issue is "as well as from commercial players, such as airlines and fuel distributors, that are trying to lock in prices now out of fear that the upward trend may continue."

The airlines and big trucking companies and wholesale (gasoline, diesel, heating oil) jobbers are betting that crude prices will go up --> more then just the "usual seasonal summer driving increase" -- and they are trying to cover their butts.

It is not a conspiracy or politics -- it's geology. And if there was any conspiracy --> it was a conspiracy of the auto industry and the oil industry --> and petroleum-political complex --> to ignore geology and conduct "business as usual."

I'm no politician --- I'm just a dumb engineer.

If that's the case, we sure could use some more dummies. :thumbsup:

per fxstreet
http://www.fxstreet.com/nou/noticies/afx/noticia.asp?font=Reuters&pv_noticia=MTFH81126_2005-04-01_18-25-48_SD234815

Production problems over the past week have deepened concerns over whether refiners will be able meet gasoline demand this summer.

A 485,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery in Venezuela -- the world's fifth-biggest oil exporter and a top supplier of crude and oil products to the United States -- was shut down on Thursday by a power failure.

State oil company PDVSA said it aimed to resume full operations at the Amuay refinery in seven days at the latest and that supply to local and international markets was guaranteed.

A fatal explosion last week at BP Plc's <BP.L> Texas City refinery, the third-largest in the U.S. also unnerved the market, along with problems at several gasoline-producing units.

For the past month, U.S. gasoline demand has been 2 percent higher than the same time a year ago, despite record pump prices.

...How much lite sweet crude is left in reserves? The stuff that comes out of Alaska is sour crude (foul) and it sells for quite a bit less, but requires a lot more refining. So, I think $100+ a barrel for lite sweet crude by this summer is quite possible.

high sulfur-content oil into the market to ease price tensions and shortly after there were reports of people using Shell gas who were suddenly having their catalytic converters go bad, or something like that? Was that just a rumor?

Edited to add I found the answer...it was fuel gauge sensors!

...can use shitty gas

Maybe even $4

New York Times:
3.4% Surge Pushes Oil Above $57
By JAD MOUAWAD

Published: April 2, 2005


Oil prices jumped 3.4 percent to a record yesterday, prompted by concerns over the level of gasoline stockpiles in the United States before the summer driving season.

The May contract for crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $1.87 and settled at $57.27 a barrel after reaching $57.70 in earlier trading. The closing futures price was the highest since trading began in 1983.

Gasoline futures in New York trading also rose, closing up 7 cents, to $1.73 a gallon. They have jumped 10 percent in the last three days....

***

Oil markets continue to be rocked by the tightness in global production and concerns over rising demand. These issues, along with unexpected interruptions from producers like Iraq or Venezuela, have contributed to a 67 percent jump in oil prices in the last year.

More recently, problems at oil refineries in the United States and abroad have increased worries that gasoline demand this summer will not be met....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/02/business/02oil.html

supply. All of a sudden out of nowhere. They pointed out that the oil producing countries can't expand the supply. However, no one seems to go to the next step that if supply is limited, what does happen next. It's just business as usual and keep selling the SUVs.

"increase production" by a certain number of barrels per day. That promised did not materialize. Why not? Because they ain't got it.

This should not come as any news to DU readers. The world is going through a reorganization. It's going to be a reorganzation based on who has the oil....and who doesn't.

Washington was well aware of this about 7 years ago. They have been trying to surf the wave and stay on top. Unfortunately, there are small thorns in their side named Hugo Chavez....and Ayatollah Khameini....and Vladimir Putin...And Chairman Hu.

All of these people are moving to the forefront in world politics. And the situation is volatile. As of the 2nd inning, things are not looking good for Washington. World opinion has turned against the US. We should expect lots of sabotage, deals being made behind our backs, and the pipelines being blown up. Please look at post # 3 which explains the details of a refinery in Venezuela which is shut down because of a power failure.

As Cheney's face turns white with fear and his heart has trouble pumping blood to all his capillaries.....see how easy it would be for Chavez to just pull the plug on the oil refineries?

As our Achilles tendon is exposed.....