Oil Prices Dip Below $60 a Barrel

MSN Money ^ | October 21, 2005 | Associated Press

[Semper Paratus]

VIENNA, Austria (AP) - Crude-oil futures traded below $60 a barrel Friday, as supply concerns eased on signs of adequate fuel stocks in the United States, the world's largest consumer.

Prices for related products -- gasoline, heating oil and natural gas -- also fell, further indicating that worries about short-term shortfalls were easing.

Related newsDow Closes Down 133 on Economic Concerns High Prices Bolster Energy Cos. Profits Market Report -- In Play (DVN, VLO, XTO, BP, SLB, SU, SUN, PPP, KWK, XOM, APC, TLM, RIG, OXY, MRO, GRP) N.Y. Crude Oil Prices Fall to 3-Month Low Key Economic Indicator Declines Sharply Light, sweet crude for December delivery fell 45 cents to $59.57 a barrel by afternoon in Europe in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The November contract settled $1.38 lower Thursday to expire at $61.03 a barrel -- the lowest closing price for a front-month contract since Aug. 3.

December Brent crude futures on London's International Petroleum Exchange fell 61 cents to $57.30 a barrel.

[billhilly]

$2.49.9 in my hood last weekend.

[cynicom]

Speculation??? Good heavens no,,that was just supply and demand doing their job.

[Alberta's Child]

That's right. Anyone who doubts that oil is priced at levels that can't possibly be sustained over time should simply look at the recent activities at Goldman Sachs to understand what has been going on here. A couple of months ago they were predicting $100/barrel oil this winter, and then just this week they sold off 40 million shares of Exxon/Mobil stock. If they really believed their own nonsense about $100 oil, you can be sure they never would have sold even a single share in the world's largest oil company.

[twigs]

I just paid $2.55 this morning.

[Sam Gamgee]

Humbly, I don’t think so. Firstly, I don’t believe any of it was speculation. Secondly, I think we do continue down from here as in the medium term the oil price was a little frothy. Maybe down to $55.00 or so. But then up into the high 80s as a final price. The demand side from India and Chine will only continue to grow. We can’t guarantee the safety of oil workers in the Middle East, and Saudis don’t know how to work their industry.

[twigs]

You're even lower than we are. But I still consider this robbery. Must get well below $2 before I think all is well.

[Rik0Shay]

2.29 9 Here in South Texas

[Allen H]

Thank goodness. Regular unleaded have dropped over 40 cents where I am the past two weeks. Around $2.40 per gallon. Maybe under $2.00 pg in a few weeks? I think that's about as likely as my getting a full scale fully operational X-Wing Fighter for my birthday, but hope springs eternal. :)

[KevinDavis]

We could be lower if it wasn't for the taxes....

[Semper Paratus]

Agree the trend will be to go up in the long but believe the equilibrium point closer to 50.00. The good news about this latest spike is that it will drive more alternative R&D and petro derivative exploration.

[Dilbert56]

If refining capacity is constrained, wouldn't it be natural for the supply of crude to grow, driving the price down?

[devane617]

I view $60 pbl a significant support level. When broken, look out below. Demand is dropping and I see no reason we should not see $40 oil.

[billhilly]

I live in the DC area, in Northern Virginia. Last July we took a drive down to the Memphis area and on the trip, 2.19.9-2.29.9 was the cost. That was the lowest we have seen since then.

You're back there now. Let's hear it for $1.50

[safisoft]

Crude-oil futures traded below $60 a barrel Friday, as supply concerns eased on signs of adequate fuel stocks in the United States, the world's largest consumer.

Our friends the Saudis heard the speaches by Dr. Rice and President Bush yesterday. They like it that we play favorites with Pali-terrorists.

[Lazamataz]

I won't be satisfied until they pay me 25 cents a gallon to haul this toxic chemical away.

[Sam Gamgee]

Only time will tell I guess.

[SAJ]

Econ 101 never deals with the effect of fear on the level of demand. Further, it never acknowledges that a market is a discounting mechanism of price; i.e. that it operates on not what is known today, but what its participants expect for tomorrow. Thirdly, Econ 101 never informs students that fear, as a demand factor, accelerates superquickly given the existence of fear-inducing events, but subsides only slowly.

[Allen H]

One thing to consider is, if we continue to use arab oil, which is all double overpriced opec oil, except for non-opec member Iraq, eventually they'll run out of most of their oil. It's already happening. I've heard several times the past few months how the arab opec "easy to drill" oil supply is getting low and dropping fast. Once arab nations are out of most of their petro supply, it will make it impossible for liberals to oppose drilling the hundreds of billions of barrels of oil in the gulf, Utah, Alaska, and all the shoal oil we aren't tapping. If we tap into that, it would dramatically lower the price per gallon at the pumps, since domestic oil is half the price of opec oil by proxy of the fact that it's not coming from opec which typically sells their oil for two or more times what it costs from non-opec nations. More nuke and clean coal plants, and a few new refinaries would be nice too, so we don't need as much oil in the first place.

[Semper Paratus]

I'm hoping George Soros bought a ton of December Oil contracts at 70+.

[MEGoody]

Liberals are deeply saddened.