Oil price drops below $49 mark ($48.82 down from $55.17 high on Tuesday)

Houston Chronicle ^ | November 5, 2004 | GEORGE JAHN, AP

[Cincinatus' Wife]

VIENNA, AUSTRIA - Oil futures prices plunged by more than $2 a barrel Thursday, continuing a sell-off that began last week amid rising U.S. supplies of crude and expectations of a surge in heating oil production before winter arrives.

Also helping to push prices below $49 a barrel was an Energy Department report showing a larger-than-expected increase last week in the amount of stored natural gas, which was already abundant.

"This is acting like a bear market," said Ed Silliere, vice president of risk management at Energy Merchant in New York.

Silliere said there was a large wave of selling among well-financed institutional investors, adding to the downward momentum.

Light, sweet crude for December delivery fell by $2.06 to settle at $48.82 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was the first time prices settled below $49 a barrel since Sept. 24.

Oil prices have fallen $6.35, or 11.5 percent, since last Tuesday, when New York futures settled at $55.17 per barrel, matching the record settlement price first set Oct. 22.

"The market does have some downward momentum," said Steve Turner at Commerzbank in London, citing fears that the global economy is starting to slow, which could shrink demand. London Brent was down $1.55 at $46.01 on the International Petroleum Exchange.

The U.S. Energy Department reported Thursday that natural gas in storage rose by 44 billion cubic feet to 3.29 trillion cubic feet, or 7.8 percent above the five-year average for this time of year. December natural gas futures, which are up more than 75 percent from a year ago, fell 55.3 cents to $8.199 per thousand cubic feet.

December heating oil was down 5.17 cents at $1.3721 per gallon, and gasoline futures slid 5.03 cents to $1.2774 per gallon.

The decline in oil prices mainly reflected the market's reaction to the Energy Department's Wednesday report, which showed that commercially available stocks of crude oil in the United States rose by 6.3 million barrels to 289.7 million barrels last week. A week earlier, the agency reported a 4 million barrel rise.

Traders speculated over what President Bush's re-election would mean for energy policy, with analysts saying he is likely to maintain a fossil-fuel friendly policy and bolster U.S. strategic reserves, already at 670 million barrels.

• In Iraq, militants have threatened to strike oil installations and government buildings if the Americans launch an all-out assault on Fallujah. Exports from northern Iraq have already been suspended up to 10 days after saboteurs blew up a pipeline. • In Africa's largest producer Nigeria, thousands marched in support of a strike called Nov. 16 to protest domestic fuel prices.

[Prophet in the wilderness]

I see a ( SLINGSHOT EFFECT ) in our economy and we will see growth in our economy that we have seen in the last 50 years.

[kingattax]

watch the dims on the talk shows....heres the new strategy: they are all talking about their "faith and religion" now.

last night i almost fell in the floor watching rahm emanuel on
CNN telling aaron brown how bubba "clinton knows the bible and is a man of deep faith". its amazing to see these people say things like that with a straight face.

they are all going to be church-going folks now....this should be falling-down funny to watch.....what phonies

[Prophet in the wilderness]

call it ( THE DASHLE EFFECT ) .

[kingattax]

youre right.within a year the dow will be over 15000

[ScaniaBoy]

A few weeks before the election I discussed this with a friend who is a commodity trader. He saw no real reason for the high oil price. Pure speculation.

If this whole story is not worthy of some real investigative journalism I don't know what is.

[Prophet in the wilderness]

they might not ever find the error of their ways, but, just keep making mistakes over and over until they become passed history and ENSTINKED !!

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Phonies all the way.

Their new mantra, "How can we fool them today into believing we're devout and moral.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

An endangered species!

[RWR8189]

Still going down:

11/05/04 Session Contract Detail for December 2004

	Last				48.70
	Open High				48.81
	Open Low				48.81
	High				48.81
	Low				48.43
	Settle				48.82
	Change				-0.12
	Open Interest				199291
	Volume				0
	Last Updated				11/05/04 03:52:23

Time Period: 

 

[alloysteel]

Meanwhile, we should be proceeding apace with the construction of new nuclear-powered electric generation plants, using technology that takes advantage of nuclear "waste" as a power (read heat) source. "Spent" uranium rods are still potent energy sources, with the right application of physics and engineering.

For all the ballyhoo about the mysterious nature of radioactive energy, nuclear power plants still rely on the intermediary of steam generated by heat given off by radioactive decay to drive turbines which are hooked up to power generators, exactly like coal-fired or natural gas-fired power plants. The "spent" uranium rods can be reprocessed to produce highly refined radioactive nuclear decay isotopes that will produce as much or more energy than the original uranium. There is just superstitious fear of this intermediary isotope, plutonium, which might be used to make thermonuclear weaponry.

Not if it is allowed to decay into a more stable isotope first. Then it is no more dangerous than sand. Of course, it may take several thousand years to convert the great bulk of plutonium to a more stable isotope. Apparently this is where all the superstitius fear comes in, that sometime in the next few thousand years, a terrorist will get his hands on sufficient supply of plutonium to make a pretty credible explosive device, and one that continues to spew plutonium into the environment for millennia afterwards.

You either learn to ride the whirlwind, or you are sucked into it. Human beings are smart enough to mount and ride. It is only timidity that lets you be sucked in.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Bump!!

[Cincinatus' Wife]

A Brighter Tomorrow : Fulfilling the Promise of Nuclear Energy by Pete V. Domenici

[wildcatf4f3]

Yes it all goes back to Prometheus - heat is energy

[dokmad]

I sure hope this price drop starts showing up at the pumps and the fuel oil dealers! Home heating oil prices are killing me!

[Ff--150]

"Georgie Soros must be unwinding his position."

Hehehe. And he lost his [bleep] on the Canadian, Aussie and New Zealand dollars. Hohoho...

[AmericaUnited]

Election is over so market manipulators have no reason to keep the price of oil high to try to make Bush look bad.

You are dead on the money!! I posted on election day that it would be very smart to go short oil, knowing that the many corrupt interests (Soros, Euroweanies, Arab countries, Chavez, China etc.) would now be unwinding their speculative positions that drove the price up.

I'm putting my money where my post is.

Expect to oil at $40 in a month.

[Norski]

"The market does have some downward momentum," said Steve Turner at Commerzbank in London, citing fears that the global economy is starting to slow, which could shrink demand. London Brent was down $1.55 at $46.01 on the International Petroleum Exchange.

I find your commentary fascinating. Would you please create a small bio on your "about" page? Thank you, Norski.

[Norski]

"I sure hope this price drop starts showing up at the pumps and the fuel oil dealers! Home heating oil prices are killing me!"

Me, too. Every heating tech I talk to says "everyone has a 10" hole in their house from the air gaps". And I just discovered tonight that one of my renters has removed a door trim piece. . . I have not yet opened this month's fuel bills for the rentals . . .

[KarlInOhio]

Democrats in the senate are privately worried about being "Daschled" if they oppose qualified judicial nominees.

I wish Republicans like Specter were just as worried.

[Coop]

Silliere said there was a large wave of selling among well-financed institutional investors

You don't say...