Rumors Put Oil Traders on Edge -NYT

[Rose Siding]

A hint of a terrorist threat in Nigeria, a major supplier of crude oil to the United States, and worries about a lack of refining capacity drove energy markets into a frenzy on Friday, pushing oil over $58 a barrel, a record.

Crude oil for July delivery climbed to $58.60 a barrel before settling at $58.47, up $1.89. Some traders said oil might reach $70 a barrel, driven primarily by demand in China and the United States. Fears over what might affect the supply, rather than what is actually affecting it, appeared to inject anxiety into the market.

"In this environment, we cannot afford to have any disruptions," said Thomas Bentz, senior energy analyst at BNP Paribas Commodity Futures. "We are still in the uptrend." The closing on Friday of the consulates of the United States, Britain and Germany in Lagos, Nigeria's largest city, because of reports of threats from Islamic militants put traders on edge. Nigeria supplied the United States with more than 1.1 million barrels of oil a day in April.

The possibility of a terrorist attack in Nigeria was enough to tap the oil market's fear that demand-driven pressure on prices might evolve into a full-blown supply-driven crisis.

A sudden restriction of supplies led to the oil shocks of the 1970's.....

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/18/business/18oil.html

[merwin]

1. No, it's driven primarily by greed

[acmavm]

2. Gotta soak the people of as much as they can before it's all gone.

I recommend Tower of Power's 'Only So Much Oil In The Ground' for two reasons. 1) Really great song; and 2) Illustrates very well how long the knowledge that we are past peak oil has been a known fact.

[teryang]

3. The institutional traders are getting out

...correction in futures market anticipated shortly.

[bemildred]

4. Yeh, too high for now. Love those peaks. nt

[BiggJawn]

5. THAT'S why?

What's next? "Traders had a real shitty lunch, so they're feeling nervous"?

ANY freakin' excuse to GOUGE the little people.

[truthisfreedom]

6. 'splain somethin' to a simple man. how is it that oil can go from 25 bucks

a barrel to double that, or higher, and gas prices only go up by 50 cents per gallon (a rise amounting to about 25%?)

'splain, please!

[mbperrin]

8. Where are you? In Odessa, Texas, gasoline rose from

1.03 to 2.16, right now at 2.04...that's right at 100% here...

[FloridaPat]

7. But there's a surplus! I heard * say so himselft when his buddy from

Saudia Arabia came over to discuss the oil shortage. No, there is no shortage of oil. Just a shortage of refiners. There is actually a glut of oil. So therefore, prices are going down. Can't everyone see that?