[thackney]

I would look at the data from EIA and IEA.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/international/contents.html

http://omrpublic.iea.org/

OPEC also provides decent global data in their monthly market reports.

http://www.opec.org/home/Monthly%20Oil%20Market%20Reports/2008/mr102008.htm

[gopgal4life]

The drop in oil prices (because I watch them every morning on Squawk) is directly related to the day President Bush reversed the ban on domestic drilling. The MSM, even Fox, has not attributed it to this, but it is true.

Note that last Sunday afternoon, “O” indicated that he may reverse this, and sure enough on Monday morning, oil rose $4/barrel.

[henkster]

Thank you for the links. Very helpful Excel formats on the DOE website. I’m sure you are much better versed on those stats than I am, but if I read them correctly:

World-wide production has remained relatively stable over the past 14 months, with production peaking this summer but dropping slightly in the past two or three months.

Stats on the most recent months of world-wide demand not available, but looking at the component areas, it appears that demand has not fallen precipitously.

So, check me if I am wrong, but I just don’t see a huge drop in demand that would justify such a drop in international prices. Unless I am missing something in this commodity market, I conclude that speculation accounted for a significant, but not total, reason for the prices over the summer.