Crude Oil Reaches $68 as Storm Threatens Gulf of Mexico Output

[UpInArms]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=a1mexAsSNp4g&refer=top_world_news

Aug. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose to record $68 a barrel in New York on concern that a storm heading for Florida may threaten production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

Tropical Storm Katrina, the 11th named storm of the year, is forecast to reach hurricane strength before crossing Florida Aug. 26 and moving into the Gulf, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said. The Gulf of Mexico accounts for 30 percent of U.S. oil output.

``Katrina is worrisome because of where it's headed,'' said Adam Sieminski, chief energy economist at Deutsche Bank AG in New York. ``If it still has any oomph when it gets to the Gulf, they will start shutting platforms.''

Crude oil for October delivery rose as much as 68 cents, or 1 percent, to a record $68 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $67.77 at 8:25 a.m. Sydney time.

Yesterday, the contract rose $1.61, or 2.5 percent, to $67.32 a barrel, the highest closing price since trading began in 1983. The previous intraday record of $67.10 was touched on Aug. 12. Prices today are 56 percent higher than a year ago.

...more...

The last line of this article is a headbanger.

[Roland99]

1. Sure it's driven by fundamentals. A very *basic* fundamental:

Greed.

[bluestateguy]

2. Remember those Clinton era gas prices?

I also remember candidate Bush whining that the Clinton Administration was not doing enough when oil prices were, gasp, $35 A BARRELL!

[saigon68]

4. CANDIDATE CHIMPANZEE LOVES THE HIGH PRICES

His sleazy, corrupt friends are making billions from the toil and sweat of the Amerikan peasants.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

9. Yep

All his buddies are amking big bucks.

[UpInArms]

11. according to this inflation adjusted chart

it was somewhere between 10 and 20 a barrel during the clinton years

[Roland99]

14. They were as low as $22/bbl in 2000.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

3. We're close to seeing a tripling of the price of crude in 5 years.

Probably doesn't mean anything.

[bemildred]

6. The important thing is there is no inflation.

:banghead::banghead:

[Chicago Democrat]

7. Yeah, Chinese cheap goods plus expensive everything else equals

low inflation!


HINT: Goods made by CHINESE SLAVES have bad karma inherit in them....

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

10. And for every Chinese slave there's one laid off American

[jpak]

5. $68 a barrel on a threat

How much on an actual strike on the LA/TX offshore oilfields???

We're still ~2 weeks away from the historical climatic peak of hurricane season...

[grahamhgreen]

8. Iraq has nothing to do with high oil prices...

as the MSM always reminds us.

Before, oil was up because of lack of refining capacity. Now, oil is up "...on concern that a storm heading for Florida may threaten production".

If storms heading for Florida actually did increase the price of oil, it would be of great interest to oil futures traders.

They would quickly set up systems to buy oil before the storms arrived in the Fall, and sell the futures contracts after wards. A very easy way to make money. Heck, you or I could do it.

To report that this is the cause for an increase in oil is simply a way of diverting attention from the real reason for high oil prices - a war in the worlds second largest oil fields.

[beetbox]

12. And alot of fuel is being used

to fight the War on Terra'

U.S. military is using between 10 million and 11 million barrels of fuel each month to sustain operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere. Most of that fuel is dedicated to transportation needs to power military aircraft, ground vehicles and ships.

In fiscal 2005, DESC will buy about 128 million barrels of fuel -- 42 gallons make a barrel -- at a cost of $8.5 billion. Jet fuel constitutes nearly 70 percent of DoD's petroleum product purchases.

On Edit:Vital Signs Fact of the Week

Planes Utilize Most Fuel During Takeoff

The world's airlines use some 205 million tons of aviation fuel (kerosene) each year, producing greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, ozone, sulfur dioxide, and methane. Jet fuel is the second-largest expense to airlines after labor and can amount to 20 percent of companies' operating expenses.

[Mr Rabble]

13. Oh stop it with your logic!

/sarcasm off/