Posted on 11/05/2004 12:57:49 AM PST by 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.
Election is over so market manipulators have no reason to keep the price of oil high to try to make Bush look bad.
They threw their worst at us and still were defeated.
Georgie Soros must be unwinding his position.
This would have been reported as a Kerry miracle, if he'd been elected.
HA!
hhhmmmmm.... Iraq and Nigeria aren't looking much better production-wise but the price drops fast after the election.... hhhhmmmmm....
Yes, and they know it, too. There's no way they could have done any more to defeat bush than they did, and they came up very short, losing more seats in congress to boot. Democrats in the senate are privately worried about being "Daschled" if they oppose qualified judicial nominees. Sweet.
He could make paraplegics walk.... but only if he won...
Hope Soros gets stuck with some big losses.
Exactly what I was thinking. I wonder how much he and his ilk did to influence it.
I remember talking to a lefty a couple of weeks before the election.. I told him that oil prices we being artifically driven up by Bush's enemies in order to cost him the election. His eyes nearly bugged out of his head. He could not believe what I was saying, as it ran contrary to everything he had heard from Dan Rather and Michael Moore.
I told him the proof of what I was saying would come after the election ... when the price of oil dropped hard...
Exactly!
LIBERALS walk on water and
conservatives are greedy and mean spirited,
at least, according to the msm.
He he he...
by january oil futures will be under 40 and the dow will be
over 12000.
I think Bush will use the bully pulpit more this term.
It has to be artificial. How else could it drop that far that quick? Have we heard any other reason, besides the election, that would tend to encourage lower oil prices?
Actually Iraq just lost the northern pipeline in a series of sabotage attacks and the Nigerian workers just called a general strike. Yet the price still falls.
The GOP is on the march.
The Democratic Party can wander in the wilderness studying the error of their ways.
With GOD ,, your victory is SURE.
exactly. Although they have been having pipeline problems and Nigeria is always being threatened with unrest. Still I have seen nothing that would give a reason for the price to fall so fast
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