Posted on 06/13/2014 2:05:42 PM PDT by BenLurkin
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) Oil industry analysts are warning a brewing civil war between Islamic militants in Iraq could potentially send gas prices soaring here in the Southland.
KNX 1070′s Pete Demetriou reports the price of crude oil has shot up to $107 per barrel the highest in 10 months on reports that soldiers with the al-Qaeda-inspired Islamic State of Iraq and Syria captured two towns in an ethnically mixed province northeast of Baghdad. The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in Los Angeles County dropped three-tenths of a cent Friday to $4.129, its lowest since April 7, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service. While that price is nearly 13 cents more than one year ago, most experts are predicting a relatively tame 7 to 10 cents a gallon increase in the next two weeks as the summer season kicks off.
But any reduction in the flow of Iraqi crude due to the ongoing Islamic insurgency in the northern Iraq cities of Mosul and Tikrit could have worldwide economic consequences, according to oil industry analyst Phill Flynn, who said speculators are watching for the worst-case scenario.
They think that Baghdad will not fall and that will be a more spirited defense of that city, Flynn said. But if it does fall and if the terrorists move further south, the price youre paying at the pump today is gonna look like a bargain in a couple weeks.
CBS News reports that a cellphone video from the Kurdish-controlled city of Irbil in northern Iraq showed the Islamic militants putting on a show of force in Mosul, parading vehicles captured from Iraqs military through the countrys second biggest city.
A fighter using a loudspeaker urged the people to join the militant group to liberate Baghdad and Jerusalem, according to CBS News.
President Barack Obama said Friday he is weighing a range of options for countering the violent Islamic insurgency in Iraq, but he warned government leaders in Baghdad the U.S. will not take military action unless they move to address deep-seated political troubles.
Were not going to allow ourselves to be dragged back into a situation in which, while were there were keeping a lid on things, and after enormous sacrifices by us, after were not there, people start acting in ways that are not conducive to the long-term stability and prosperity of the country, Obama said from the South Lawn of the White House.
The president did not specify what options he was considering, but he ruled out sending American troops back into combat in Iraq. The last U.S. troops withdrew in 2011 after more than eight years of war.
Flynn said crude analysts will closely watch the developments in the region over the next few days.
Were gonna see some type of uptick; how dramatic it will be will probably be dependent on the events over the next 24 to 48 hours, Flynn said.
FRACK them!
We went out and filled up both vehicles this morning. Just in case.
How much oil do we get from Iraq? Anyone know?
Re the photo of Obama,
Caption it: “All Praise to Allah”.
Were not going to allow ourselves to be dragged back into a situation in which, while were there were keeping a lid on things, and after enormous sacrifices by us, after were not there, people start acting in ways that are not conducive to the long-term stability and prosperity of the country,
Uhhhh...ain’t that EXACTLY what the clown president has accomplished?
No War for Oil!
*war to try and save the electoral prospects of the Democrat Party in November, now thats another matter
I’d say that this last week was the nail in the coffin for the Dems. I’m guessing $4.40/unleaded here in by the end of the month. The good news is, that hopefully Dems will crawl back into their holes for at least the next 30 years.
And, there is so much BAD crap going on that some of it is drowning out the the other bad stuff, like the IRS “whoops, we lost two years of emails” issue.
You realize that if a private company did this, they would be toast, right? And people would be canned, immediately?
I’ll do the same thing in the morning.
In the meantime... what if Baghdad simply rolls over? No fight? No fight = no oil jump.
You make excellent points, but I also said no POTUS could secure re-election with 8% unemployment, $4 gas, surging food prices, and trillion dollar annual deficits to the horizon.
And apparently he could, or at least get close enough to cheat.
I’ve read that Saudi Arabia has enough spare capacity to easily make up for Iraq. Not sure what their interests are in this mess...I’m sure somebody will let us know.
Verified even by the liberals at CR:
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2009/01/average-gas-prices-january-26-2009/index.htm
>> Personal economics trumps everything.
Yup, can’t heat the house, feed the kids, and pay the bills with dreams.
I hadn’t thought of that. Good idea.
About 300 thousand barrels per day from Iraq. The problem isn’t so much that three k, but rather all the other buyers of Iraq oil trying to replace that supply on the market where we buy the rest of our imports.
Is there a US Ambassador in Baghdad?
Wonder what he is thinking right now.
“Is there a US Ambassador in Baghdad?
Wonder what he is thinking right now.”
___________________________________________
If there is one there, she/he’s most likely a Democrat (Obama appointee). That being the case they’re probably thinking to themselves......”Drat, the most dangerous place for a Democrat is their mother’s womb; after that the second most dangerous place is in an Embassy while a Democrat’s in the White Hut.”
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