Joined: 26 Mar 2006 Posts: 707 Location: Toronto,Canada (biggest Canadian city)
Oil Prices Settle Above $75 a Barrel (welcome to $70s oil)
Quote:
NEW YORK Apr 21, 2006 (AP)— Crude-oil prices broke through $75 a barrel to hit a new record Friday, fueled by concerns about Iran's nuclear ambitions and tight U.S. gasoline supplies.
Prices at the pump also kept rising, with the average price of a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline at $2.855, up 3 cents from a day earlier and more than 60 cents higher than a year ago, according to AAA's daily fuel gauge report.
Crude prices, which are more than 40 percent higher than a year ago, have risen 8.4 percent from Thursday's closing price the biggest weeklong jump since the week ended June 17, 2005, when crude futures rose 9 percent.
Analysts say oil prices are likely to climb even higher in the weeks ahead as worries grow about how international pressure on Iran, OPEC's No. 2 oil producer, will affect its crude output. Rebel disruptions of oil production in Nigeria, the fifth-biggest source of U.S. oil imports, also pose a risk to supply.
"You put all these headlines together, you see the situation is getting charged up and getting out of control. That's why oil traders and speculators are having a field day this is exactly the kind of environment that speculators want to operate in," said Oppenheimer & Co. oil analyst Fadel Gheit.
Light, sweet crude for June delivery rose $1.48 to settle at a record $75.17 a barrel Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after peaking at an all-time trading high of $75.35. The May contract, which expired Thursday, had settled at $71.95 on Thursday.
Accounting for inflation, prices are still about 20 percent below the records reached about 25 years ago.
Traders worry that U.S. gasoline supplies may not meet summer demand after seven straight weeks of drops in domestic gasoline stocks, which are now at their lowest level since November.
"There are a lot of people that were disturbed with this week's energy numbers," said Alaron Trading Corp. analyst Phil Flynn, referring to the U.S. inventory figures. "There seems to be a lot of concern that the combination of the geopolitical issues, as well as refining issues, are enough reason not to abandon the long side of this market just yet."
New Gasoline Study Shows Profits, Not Crude Oil Prices Or Ethanol, Are Driving Pump Price Spike
Santa Monica, CA -- The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights released a new study today of rising gasoline prices in California that found corporate markups and profiteering are responsible for spring price spikes, not rising crude costs or the national switchover to higher-cost ethanol, as the oil industry claims.
