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Iran says oil price is right at $100 a barrel Angela Jameson Pressure for a cut in oil output at next week's Opec meeting in Vienna stepped up today when Iran’s Opec governor said an oil price of $100 per barrel was “appropriate” in current conditions. Mohammad Ali Khatibi made his comments as the price of Brent crude fell by $1.77 to $104.30 today while US oil also declined to $106.12. Oil is now trading nearly 30 per cent lower than its peak of $147.27 on July 11. Mr Khatibi also reiterated Iran’s view that Opec's 13 members, who are...

When the price of crude oil shot up from $100 in early March to $145 in early July, several old friends in economics and journalism blamed it on the Federal Reserve. The low fed funds rate caused the dollar to fall, they argued, which fueled a boom in commodity prices. Even the price of rice was blamed on Ben Bernanke. The Fed was said to be printing money with abandon, even though the monetary base is up 2% over the past year. Now that the dollar has been rising and commodity prices falling, consistency requires the Fed's critics to explain...

Link only, AP article (rules, y'know).

LONDON (AFP) - Oil prices fell below 105 dollars Friday on concerns over slowing energy demand and a strong US currency, while the market awaited next week's OPEC meeting on crude output levels, traders said. Brent North Sea crude for delivery in October dropped 97 cents to 105.33 dollars a barrel in electronic deals after slipping under 105 dollars earlier in the day. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for October, fell 96 cents to 106.93 dollars a barrel in pit trading. "Crude prices featured on the downside on persistent concerns over weakening oil demand and as the US...

OPEC crude oil price plunges five-month low Vienna, Sep 3 : The price for crude oil produced by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has plunged to its lowest level since early April, according to OPEC data released Wednesday. One barrel (159 litres) of OPEC-produced crude stood at $103.40 Tuesday, $6.62 less than $110.02 on the previous day. Markets were affected by the fact that Hurricane Gustav had mostly spared oil facilities, as well as by the stronger US dollar against the euro, Vienna-based energy analysts JBC said. The last time OPEC crude cost less was on April 9,...

Hedge funds caught out as Hurricane Gustav fails to lift oil price Miles Costello Several hedge funds face big financial losses after wrongly predicting that oil and gas prices would rise as a result of Hurricane Gustav slamming into the Gulf coast of the US earlier this week. As Gustav swept towards New Orleans on Monday, catastrophe experts were predicting insured losses of up to $7 billion (£3.9 billion) as offshore oil rigs faced destruction and the storm threatened energy supplies. Commodities hedge funds saw the glum prediction as an opportunity, betting heavily, using the futures market, that prices would...

Rising oil prices in recent years have again raised the question whether worldwide oil production has reached a peak. Various analysts have suggested that the rapid run up in prices indicates that if oil hasn’t yet reached its peak of production, it will do so very soon.At the same time, though, the world keeps discovering new reserves as higher prices provide incentives to bring more oil onto the market. As the above table demonstrates, the world’s oil reserves have steadily increased in the face of rising consumption.The Energy Information Administration has reported that “the world production peak for conventionally reservoired...

Oil prices extended their losses Wednesday, a day after plunging nearly $6 a barrel, as oil market traders shifted their attention from tropical weather to a stronger dollar and falling demand for petroleum products

BBC News reports that another hedge fund has closed down thanks to its failure to bail out of the oil speculation trade that boosted oil to a peak of $147 in July. This is yet another piece of evidence that people like Hank Paulson, who insisted that record oil prices were due to supply and demand, were either being less than honest -- particularly since his former employer Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) was a big beneficiary of this speculation -- or ignorant of reality. The hedge fund in question this time is Ospraie Fund, which invested in commodities like...

I personally dug up this "Treasure" and thought about what it meant to someone who lost it. I imagine that the dime was an emergency fund because it was solidly stuck to this gas cap. I really wanted to share it with the world because I think its a great visual aid. Feel free to distribute this image widely. I believe that the cap is from a gas can. I have since removed the dime from the cap but am in the process of trying to clean it up. I know that in the 20's one dime was about an...

DUBAI: Oil producers should cooperate in the face of a global economic slump to avoid any repeat of a crash in crude prices a decade ago, the United Arab Emirates' state news agency on Monday quoted an OPEC source as saying. "The source called on oil producers in and outside OPEC to show more vigilance ... and cooperation, and to adopt preventive measures and a joint strategy to avoid any sharp fall in oil prices such as what happened towards the end of 1998," the agency WAM said. Oil prices fell to their lowest levels in a generation in late...

Crude oil pared some of its losses but still closed Tuesday's session below the key $110 mark. Light sweet crude moved to $109.71 per barrel, down $5.75 on the session. Oil fell to a fresh multi-month low of $105.46 in electronic trading as Gustav weakened without causing the damage many had feared. Experts say Hurricane Gustav, which was downgraded to a tropical depression, did not cause significant damage to the oil region. New Orleans was spared a direct hit as the storm arrived on Monday weaker than many had feared. While Gustav has faded away, hurricane season is still in...

LONDON (AFP) – The euro on Tuesday slid below 1.45 dollars for the first time since February as the market anticipated lower interest rates in the eurozone and stronger growth in the United States, analysts said. In early London trade, the European single currency dropped to 1.4467 dollars, the lowest point since February 12. It rose from this level to trade at 1.4524 dollars in late European trade, compared with 1.4606 dollars late on Monday in London. Elsewhere, the yen fell slightly after Monday's abrupt resignation of Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda. The pound meanwhile struck a record low versus...

The oil and gas industry breathed a tentative sigh of relief Monday after preliminary reports suggested Hurricane Gustav did little damage to energy facilities both onshore and off, helping send oil prices sharply downward. Early updates from Gulf of Mexico drillers and oil and natural gas producers were "very promising," with no major damage reported, said Lars Herbst, regional director for Minerals Management Service, the Interior Department office that regulates the offshore oil and gas industry. Refiners were beginning to send crews Monday to assess facilities in Louisiana, meanwhile, and hoped to resume operations quickly. But Herbst and energy companies...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Oil futures tumbled nearly $7 a barrel on Tuesday after Hurricane Gustav hit the Gulf region with less force and apparently less damage than nitially feared. Prices were also pulled lower by a strengthening dollar and a return to concerns that an economic slowdown has crippled demand for energy. U.S. crude futures for October delivery dropped $6.81 a barrel to $108.65 at 11:40 a.m. ET.

Big jump in gold sale spurs manipulation talk Some analysts say only manipulation is government's attempt to take down oil By Moming Zhou, MarketWatch Last update: 7:54 p.m. EDT Aug. 29, 2008 NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Recent heat from Congress and regulators, along with public speculation, over whether commodity prices are being manipulated has also reached gold pits, where the debate was stirred by a surge in bets last month that gold prices would fall. "Congress is already investigating allegations of manipulation in the oil market, and it seems likely that it is only a matter of time before a...

The commodity bull market has a long way to go. This bull market is not magic. It's not some crazy 'cycle theory' I have. It does not fall out of the sky. It's supply and demand. It's simple stuff. In the 80s and 90s, when people were calling you to buy mutual fund and stocks, no one called to say, "Let's invest in a sugar plantation." No one called and said, "Let's invest in a lead mine." Commodities were in a bear market and in bear markets people do not invest in a productive capacity. They never have. Perhaps they...

Above is Yahoo! headline. Stocks jump on better-than-expected gross domestic product reading, decline in jobless claims NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks extended their advance in early trading Thursday after a better-than-expected reading on the nation's economy and a drop in jobless claims. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 150 points. Stocks gained as oil prices, up in early trading, reversed course.

Carter: Oil Industry Will Hold Down Prices to Help Republicans Former President Jimmy Carter tells 'Early Show' crude costs will remain low to benefit GOP in 2008 election. By Paul Detrick Business & Media Institute 8/27/2008 4:57:00 PM Former president Jimmy Carter predicted on August 27 that “oil companies will hold down oil prices a little bit, you know, to try to help the Republican ticket.” Carter, who was talking to co-host Harry Smith on “The Early Show” that morning, also said that the economy would be the most important issue, “as it was when Bill Clinton was elected the...

Don't blame the utility companies for high prices. They are only looking to the future ~snip~ Even after the sharp rises of the past two years, gas and electricity consumers are paying little more in real terms than they were in 1987. The energy consumers who have been hit are the mainly rural dwellers who rely on boilers fired by heating oil, propane or other liquid and gas fuels: prices of these fuels are much more volatile and have nearly doubled in three years. Since January 1, 1987, gas prices have risen by 144 per cent and electricity prices by...

... Almost certainly, now is not the moment for dramatic further price increases in energy, given the situation of the economy and the way in which consumers and many energy-using businesses are reeling. At the same time, with the economy getting used to far higher energy prices than were considered plausible even 18 months ago, it would be a great tragedy if prices were allowed to decline very sharply when the current crisis passes. So the crucial priority will be to maintain the momentum and incentive for savings caused by the current high-priced energy, whatever happens in the future. Right...

Gasoline prices fell Sunday, bringing down the nationwide average in a motorist group survey by more than 42 cents overall from a mid-July high. The price of regular unleaded gasoline at the pump fell four-tenths of a cent to $3.688 a gallon, according to the Daily Fuel Gauge Report from motorist advocacy group AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. The average is based on credit card swipes at 100,000 service stations. Prices have fallen 10.4% since hitting a record high of $4.114 a gallon on July 17. The dip comes after U.S. crude for October delivery saw the largest...

OIL'S FUTURE PRICE IS REALLY DEPENDENT ON WHO YOU ASK By JOHN AIDAN BYRNE, Post wires Posted: 3:21 am August 24, 2008 Drivers looking for insight into how much they'll be paying at the pump this winter shouldn't look to Wall Street for any guidance - oil analysts on the Street don't seem to have a clue. Take the gaping difference between the estimates of oil analysts at two firms - Goldman Sachs and Hong Kong-based GaveKal Research. Goldman is predicting oil, which settled at $114.63 a barrel on Friday, will not continue its easing pattern but do an about-face...

It’s the dog days of summer, but with the price of heating one’s home expected to be even higher this year than last, Northeast Ohioans already are thinking — and worrying — about the cold months of winter. ... Northeast Ohioans who use heating oil are expected to be in worse shape. Compared to last year, Midwesterners are expected to see a 29 percent increase for the price per gallon of heating oil and a 26 percent increase for average household expenditures this winter.

Every time you fill your gas tank, you're participating in what Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens describes as “the largest transfer of wealth in the history of mankind.” On average nationwide, roughly 38 percent of the cost of gasoline is tied to foreign-produced petroleum. Every time Americans spend $50 at the pump, they're sending about $19 abroad. From January through June, the United States spent $172 billion on crude-oil imports, compared with $103 billion in the first half of 2007. Many economists describe that money as a “foreign tax” on the U.S. economy, because much of it goes directly into...

Kudrin Uneasy Over Oil Price Downturn 22 August 2008 By Anatoly Medetsky / Staff Writer Falling oil prices might mean that Russia will begin to spend its financial cushion, the Reserve Fund, in 2015, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said Thursday. The draft federal budget for the next three years, which the Cabinet approved Thursday, is based on the assumption that Russia's main oil blend, Urals, will sell at $95 per barrel next year. That would represent a sizeable drop from the average of $112 that Urals was trading at this week, according to figures from the Economic Development Ministry. As...

<p>Upset about paying $3.80 a gallon for gasoline? Hank Paulson, former Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) CEO, argued that it was all supply and demand so quit your bellyaching. I thought speculation was playing a big part -- traders who bought oil and sold the dollar to drive up the price. Indeed, a few months agao I found a source who thinks 60% of the volume was from speculators.</p>

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Crude oil prices fell more than 5.4 percent on Friday in the biggest one-day slide since 2004 as dealers turned their focus to rising supply levels and weakening global demand. A rebound in the U.S. dollar encouraged the sell-off, applying downward pressure across the commodities markets by weakening the purchasing power of buyers using other currencies, dealers said.

<p>NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street capped a volatile week with sharp gains Friday as oil retreated from this week's rally and after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said inflation pressures are likely to moderate. The Dow Jones industrial average rose nearly 200 points.</p>

Oil, the David Copperfield of financial market assets, pulled another impressive trick out of its hat yesterday. But it's getting harder to believe the illusion any more. Crude surged $5.62 (U.S.) to $121.18 a barrel in New York yesterday, storming back after dipping below $112 earlier in the week. The rebound has certainly caught the attention of the oil-fuelled Canadian stock market, which is up 3.6 per cent over the past two days. Sure, there were a few reasons tossed out there for oil's move: sabre-rattling by major oil producer Russia over a U.S. missile defence pact with Poland, jitters...

We've all read that speculators are driving oil prices artificially high — a claim that gets more interesting in light of oil's recent fall below $115. But maybe we're looking at it from the wrong perspective. Suppose that major suppliers in the oil industry are these manipulative speculators. Is it possible that oil prices are rigged? You bet. Here's how: Just how would you raise prices if you were an oil supplier? Controlling the supply — as in the 1973 OPEC embargo — has become less effective with more sources of oil worldwide. And oil suppliers clearly cannot raise prices...

A Few Speculators Dominate Vast Market for Oil Trading By David Cho Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, August 21, 2008; A01 Regulators had long classified a private Swiss energy conglomerate called Vitol as a trader that primarily helped industrial firms that needed oil to run their businesses. But when the Commodity Futures Trading Commission examined Vitol's books last month, it found that the firm was in fact more of a speculator, holding oil contracts as a profit-making investment rather than a means of lining up the actual delivery of fuel. Even more surprising to the commodities markets was the massive...

Headline at http://www.marketwatch.com/ Crude tops $121 to close at a more than two-week high; natural gas gains SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures climbed above $121 a barrel Thursday to close at a more than two-week high, as the dollar fell against other major currencies and as tensions between the U.S. and Russia worsened.

A few speculators dominate vast oil market Regulators: Swiss energy firm holds 11 percent of contracts on NYMEX Regulators had long classified a private Swiss energy conglomerate called Vitol as a trader that primarily helped industrial firms that needed oil to run their businesses. But when the Commodity Futures Trading Commission examined Vitol's books last month, it found that the firm was in fact more of a speculator, holding oil contracts as a profit-making investment rather than a means of lining up the actual delivery of fuel. Even more surprising to the commodities markets was the massive size of Vitol's...

Oil up six bucks a barrel, drill here, drill now!!!!

WASHINGTON -- U.S. consumers should brace for the biggest increase in food prices in nearly 20 years in 2008 and even more pain next year due to surging meat and produce prices, the Agriculture Department said Wednesday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose a dollar on Wednesday after Russia responded angrily to a U.S. missile shield agreement with Poland, raising the threat of a supply disruption from the huge energy producer. The gains were encouraged by a report earlier in the day from Goldman Sachs (GS.N), the biggest investment bank in the commodities market, reasserting a forecast that oil prices could hit a record $149 a barrel by the end of the year as supply struggles to meet rising demand in Asia. U.S. crude futures rose $1.00, to $115.53 a barrel, by 1830 GMT, while London...

LONDON (AFP) - Oil prices fell on Wednesday after a sharp spike the previous day as the market reacted to a much larger-than-expected increase in US crude reserves, traders said. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for September delivery, dropped 1.22 dollars to 113.31 dollars a barrel. London's Brent North Sea crude for October shed 95 cents to 112.30 dollars. The US government's Department of Energy said Wednesday that US crude oil stockpiles climbed 9.4 million barrels in the week ending August 15 -- analysts had forecast a much smaller gain of 800,000 barrels. The DoE said US gasoline...

NEW YORK, USA (AFP): Crude oil prices spiked higher Tuesday after OPEC member Venezuela said it would ask the cartel at its September meeting to cut production if downward price pressure continues. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for September delivery, jumped 1.66 dollars to close at 114.53 dollars a barrel.

Oil production has begun falling at all of the major Western oil companies, and they are finding it harder than ever to find new prospects even though they are awash in profits and eager to expand. Part of the reason is political. From the Caspian Sea to South America, Western oil companies are being squeezed out of resource-rich provinces. They are being forced to renegotiate contracts on less-favorable terms and are fighting losing battles with assertive state-owned oil companies. And much of their production is in mature regions that are declining, like the North Sea. The reality, experts say, is...

Quite unconcerned with the suffering of his fellow Americans, green lefty blogger Chris Bowers of Open Left is positively delighted that Americans are paying an arm and a leg for their gasoline. Bowers opines that sky-high gasoline prices constitute a "major progressive victory" and are actually good for America: "Higher gas prices have created a broad shift in American behavior that is good for the environment and good for progressives." The fact that mass transit ridership is up, while driving is down, helps the environment, he argues. Bowers contends that increased reliance on mass transit and reduced driving is good...

Many emerging economies employ fuel subsidies that keep domestic fuel prices far below the world price. As a result, these countries consume far more fuel than they would otherwise, says Robert H. Frank, an economist at the Johnson School of Management at Cornell University. By one estimate, countries with fuel subsidies accounted for virtually the entire increase in worldwide oil consumption last year. Without this artificial demand stimulus, world oil prices would have been significantly lower. Earlier this summer, for example, world oil prices fell by $4 a barrel on news that reduced subsidies would increase Chinese domestic fuel prices...

Jack Risko of Dinocrat.com charts oil and gas prices, showing a pattern that looks very much like a speculative bubble. Notice in particular the freefall of natural gas prices (the red line), suggesting that oil prices may fall even further. Jack speculates that one motive for the Soviet invasion of Georgia is to threaten the major pipeline supplying Europe, thereby helping to sustain oil prices. A major fall of oil prices to pre-run-up levels would severely cut the income of Russia, not mention the oil states of the Gulf and Hugo Chavez.

<p>A federal auction of oil and gas leases on Colorado's scenic Roan Plateau generated nearly $114 million Thursday, a record for onshore energy lease sales in the lower 48 states.</p> <p>The U.S. Bureau of Land Management's auction netted more than 10 times the state's previous highest-grossing federal auction - $11.8 million in February 2006 - and underscored the push to develop domestic energy sources. The BLM estimates the plateau contains 9 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas.</p>

If you had to bet whether the price of oil would be higher or lower 10 years in the future, what would you say? Some argue that the world is running out of low-cost oil and that oil prices will get higher and higher. Others argue that the current high price of oil will cause a flood of new oil, much of it from nonconventional sources; hence, prices will fall significantly (provided the political class in Washington, D.C., does not continue its energy and environmental death march policies). The case for much lower oil prices is as follows. There...

A list and way to track number of economic issues and problems associated with Russia and its financial system: Main Google news search including "RTS" Russia Becomes Worst 3rd-Quarter Stock Market on Oil (Update3) - Bloomberg - good read! Investment Week, UK... a near 30% decline in the RTS index in recent months Lukoil cuts sale price of diesel, jet fuel, fuel oil in August - from Polish source Europe Grapples with Russia-Georgia Woes"With energy supplies at risk, the recent conflict in the Caspian region might spur the West to seek other gas and oil sources""The very fact of the...

Crude Oil ForecastWill "Private" Oil Sink the NYMEX? Oil-Rich And Oil-Hungry Governments Are Ditching Conventional Markets And Locking Up Reserves… Here's How They Could Permanently Destabilize the Price of CrudeAn Investment U White Paper Report by Stewart Miller and the Investment U Research Team The world's largest governments are drastically changing the way they buy and sell oil. And it could affect every family, small business and multibillion-dollar corporation across the globe…So far, this historic shift has been scarcely reported. But the transformation is undoubtedly underway, and quietly altering the future of energy.Rapid economic expansion in Russia, India and, most importantly, China, has led...

The pound could soon dive to barely more than a dollar and a half while gold prices plunge to $650, experts predicted yesterday amid fresh evidence that the commodity boom is ending and the dollar's resurgence is under way. Michael Saunders, head of European economics at Citigroup, said it "would not be a surprise" if sterling fell to levels last seen in 2002 - around $1.55 - despite sitting above two dollars as recently as mid-July. His comments came as sterling dropped to a fresh two-year low against the dollar, down over a cent at $1.8632. Its recent series...

NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices fell to the $111 level Friday, reaching their lowest point in more than three months after the dollar muscled higher and OPEC predicted world demand for energy will keep falling.

Remember all those times OPEC tried to tell us that they didn't want high oil prices and we didn't believe them? Well, they meant it. They knew that technology was available to crush oil demand but they hoped that the low price of oil would keep the technology buried. The cat's now out of the bag. The commodity run is over. The talking heads are trying to temper the recent selloff in oil by saying that it will settle around $100 a barrel but that is not what happens when a bubble bursts. Oil is headed back down to historical...