Crude futures prices tap $75 for first time ever in NY

CBS Marketwatch ^ | 4/21/2006

[Rutles4Ever]

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures climbed to a high of $75 per barrel Friday for the first time ever for a front-month contract on concerns about tensions surrounding Iran's nuclear activities, violence in Nigeria, and tight U.S. supplies of unleaded gasoline. June crude was last up $1.26, or 1.7%, at $74.95 per barrel. "We often see this sort of short covering in a record-setting bull market ahead of a weekend, since nobody is sure where we may be Monday," said trader Kevin Kerr, who is also editor of MarketWatch's Global Resources Trader.

[Paulus Invictus]

it's the fault of the RAT pols who vote against any attempt to drill for oil anywhere or increase the number of refineries or to build new nuke generators. They also oppose wind farms, especially in their neighborhood (Kennedy and Kerry, for example).

[Marysecretary]

Here in Central New York, we're paying $3.11! That's higher than the national average. Cheez.

[Paulus Invictus]

Yup. My daughter and everyone else in England is paying well over $5 per US gallon now. The price per gallon all over Europe is at that general level.

[Paulus Invictus]

And what do you expect them to do? The WH has no control over oil prices---OPEC does and the speculators add to the problem.

[bjs1779]

China Gas and Diesel Prices Per Gallon

Fuel Type / Period Q1 2005.. March 25, 2006 .. Today
Gasoline #93 ......... $1.79 .........$2.01 ...............$2.19
Diesel ... .................$1.74 .........$1.90 ...............$2.05

Chinese car buyers meet higher gas prices and new taxes - 04/02/06 ...

[RightWhale]

Gasoline is 2.20 by the trainload New York, which includes some taxes, then add taxes. If China is 1.48 that would be their tax structure doing that. Iran is 0.08, which is what it would be here if there were no taxes but state price support every step of the way.

[MrLee]

Major changes coming, IMHO. And, you won't like them. And ALL the Dems care about is blaming Bush. And Bush seems paralyzed , or worse-controlled. I see social upheavel.
I'm usually optimistic.

[ordinaryguy]

I'm confused. According to your graphs the cost of a gallon of gas is broken down as follows:

	Feb 2006	Mar 2006
Taxes	0.46	0.46
Distribution & Marketing	0.25	0.10
Refining	0.23	0.53
Crude Oil	1.35	1.33

So, in February, the cost of refining a single gallon of gas was $0.23. One month later, the cost of refining a gallon of gas had more than doubled. Meanwhile the cost of distributing and marketing that gallon of gasoline more than halved.

[gas0linealley]

I have read that George Soros invented the crude oil futures trading game. Does anyone have any information to share about that? Additionally, how were things done before the current system was adopted?

[ordinaryguy]

Another $25, we get to $100 a barrel, which is supposed to be some magic number. At that point, it is entirely feasible to...

There are many technologies which would be financed if energy prices were guaranteed to stay above a certain level. The problem is that financiers get burned in boom/bust cycles.

[ordinaryguy]

China and India are especially sensitive to oil costs due to their export manufacturing economy. ... My bet is that China and India's economies will blink before us, causing a fall in demand and price.

If their input prices rise, won't they just raise prices? I've forgotten who China exports to, but it sounds to me as though they are the folks who will end up paying the bill for China's higher petroleum prices.

[ordinaryguy]

The more we've still got in the ground, the more we'll have later.

Too bad more people here don't understand that logic.

[ran15]

You should be our secretary of energy.

[xzins]

I'm referring to the mid-east terrorists who are funded and empowered by our dependence on mid-east oil.

[gogogodzilla]

That comes out to be about a dollar per liter...

Or roughly $4/gallon.

[gogogodzilla]

ExxonMobil, however, DOES control the company's oil refining capacity.

And it could build coal-to-oil refineries... totally eliminating all payouts to hostile, oil-rich nations.

But it doesn't.

Hmmm.

[liberty2004]

I am sick of paying $3 a gallon for gas $4 by Memorial Day? We'll send a get-well card.

thanks for the laugh. It's needed during these times. It seems the Reps are doing everything needed to lose the House and Senate. The Reps in Congress are idiots

[liberty2004]

Way to go, Washington. You weenies are the cause of the next Great Depression

well stated. Washington is the cause of most major problems. Maybe a true recession is needed to "reset" the idiots in DC. The ruling elite would be happy to screw us as long as they have theirs.

[Rte66]

"In short, they put their profits above the interests of the American people."

You do realize, don't you, that the major oil companies are owned and run by many "American people"?

And P.S. - Halliburton is not an oil company.