U.S. oil surges $4 to record above $70

[Lori Price CLG]

U.S. oil surges $4 to record above $70

U.S. crude oil futures surged more than $4 in opening trade on Monday, hitting a new record high above $70 a barrel after Hurricane Katrina forced Gulf of Mexico producers to shut in more than a third of their output.

Katrina, which strengthened into a rare, maximum power Category 5 hurricane as it spun through key oil and gas fields toward New Orleans, shut in a total 633,000 barrels per day (bpd), according to company figures on Sunday.

<snip>

Lori Price

[KyndCulture]

1. yikes...

:wtf:

[Freedom_from_Chains]

2. Fill up today

CNN is saying we could loose 1/3 of our ability to import oil in the Gulf Coast area due to Katrina

[MissB]

3. Filling up is great,

but then you have to reduce the driving too.

[Joebert]

9. Bingo.

But in a few spots driving further can be good...

I have a hybrid. If I take the short, fast route, I burn more gas due to the 50 mph I have to do on that road.

I'm changing my route to get around it. It will be slower, but I will run electric for longer. We'll see if I get an improvement in mpg.


I'm going to start taking lunch to work instead of escaping the site for an hour. That should cut 20-50 miles a week off the weekly commutes.


If only we had mass transit here. <sigh>

[pdurod1]

23. I drive a civic

work is 3 miles away. Prices don't mean shit to me. I can hit 2 grocery stores on the way home. Problem is I'm highly educated,(BS Chemisty, math and comp sci) but too stupid to move away from this stupid state. Geeeez

[Joebert]

67. It's hard to up and move.

I am trying to get my affairs in order so I can do just that.

I'm tired of being in a Red State. I'm tired of being in a Red County. I'm tired of being in a Red Town.

I'm tired of this desert feel. I'm tired of being gawked at or treated like an idiot for not buying a big pickup truck. When I bought my new car, the Escape Hybrid, I was ridiculed for not getting something bigger. I am single, but wanted something 4x4, American, and better with snow than an Insight which is what I would have loved to buy.

My commute is about 7 miles in one direction, but the lack of bike lanes, the F950s or whatever people drive out here, and just flat out shit drivers cause me to not even consider a bike.

Therefore, I am looking in the Northeast, I'll try to have my house ready to go if I'm able to find some work up there.

If you are in the state that you use as an avatar, I'd run too. I'm in Colorado, so not much better off. At least we have mountains to look at. :-)

[RamboLiberal]

60. Yep - 25% of our domestic oil supply

Bush & the Repuke congress better get their asses off the pot. He needs to take some emergency measures to prevent the businesses and citizenry from economic catastrophe. He needs IMHO to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves, and consider a temporary reduction of federal fuel taxes, and encourage states to do the same. Also some type of federally ordered price freeze would not be out of order. Just my opinion.

[Freedom_from_Chains]

62. And all good suggestions

As oil is trading right now at $70.00 a barrel, up 3.87 and this thing hasn't even hit yet. Not to mention people were already starting to get violent at the gas stations last week.

http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/commodities/cfutures.html

[Sub Atomic]

83. I filled up this morning for $2.74 a gallon

and this afternoon when leaving work it was $2.83.

That was in Rancho Bernardo, CA.

[yewberry]

4. Reuters has it

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsChannel.aspx?type=businessNews

[Lori Price CLG]

5. Thanks, tofunut! :) n/t

[fearnobush]

40. Gasoline for September delivery: Record trading at $2.13 gallon

"Gasoline for September delivery rose as much as 2.031 cents, or 10.5 percent, to a record $2.13 a gallon, and was last at $2.1235."

<http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=a4v0nePSnsHA&refer=news_index>

[bluestateguy]

6. I'm going to the gas station right now

Fucking oil traders :grr:

[puerco-bellies]

7. It's not the guys in the Oil Pits.

If it were not for the commodity markets prices would be way more volatile. The markets function on supply demand and the perception of what that equation will be at during specific points in time. The blame belongs to those who have the means of production, the supply side that job the markets. Commodity Traders (like myself) have to react to those conditions.

[Lori Price CLG]

10. I can't *wait* to report ExxonMobil's 3d Qtr. profit statement...

I will lead the CLG Breaking News with it, and send it as the top story in the newsletter.

Lori Price

[Joebert]

12. I woke up this morning, saw the maps and went straight to Citgo.

I paid $2.58/Gal.

I expect by Thursday the price to be $2.88/Gal at the same shop.

[Lori Price CLG]

45. Great on Citgo - that helps Chavez and hence, the people in Venezuela

too!

:)-Lori Price

[Joebert]

66. That's why I switched.

If you want the epitome of lazy, I never went to Citgo before because it required multiple left turns to get in/out.

But when I found out it was Venezuelan, I made it my new gas station.

[durablend]

42. Just got back--still $2.47

Another $14.00 down the drain (4 3/4 gallons in the gas can and the rest into the Escort). I expect it'll jump to $2.69 (or higher) by morning.

[Doremus]

52. We're already there in NE Ohio (paid $2.69 a few hours ago).

Someone on another board I frequent is in Atlanta. He just gased up and there were long lines, partly because many of the pumps were already out of gas.

If Katrina doesn't bring a shortage, we'll cause one with the panic buying. :(

[bluestateguy]

70. That's what it is in this town too

I just gotr back--just before the price increase.

[SpiralHawk]

8. "Hang loose." - George W. Bush

"Do as I do - kick back, relax, take a 5-week vacation, and think of the vast profits that I and my Oil Republicans cronies will be making. Hey, it puts a smile on my face." - Bush

[rodeodance]

11. oh ik, hang loose!

[ribrepin]

71. Wish I could afford to "hang loose"

but I'm a working stiff taking it in the shorts; doing my duty for god and country. I rushed out and topped off my tank tonight--$2.64.

I'm just grateful I'm not in New Orleans. Those poor people filing into the dome. Really puts the class system in this country into perspective.

[cygy2k]

13. quick question

Can somebody explain oil trading to me? Do they have night time trading and daytime trading? What is the "official" value from, the day or night trading?

[puerco-bellies]

22. During the day Crude Oil is traded on the NY Mercantile Exchange

The trading day ends at 2:30est at the close the Exchange determines the actual settle price. Usually, but not necessarily very close to the last trade. The exchange then shuts down for ether 30min to an hour (I forget) then it is traded electronically through the night. About an half-hour before the markets reopen the electronic trading is halted for the market open.

[54anickel]

14. Isn't the Strategic Petroleum Reserve located in the Louisiana welands?

[VegasWolf]

15. Knowing Bush's strategic thinking, I'm sure it is well protected.....

:sarcasm:

[KeepItReal]

16. In the salt domes near New Iberia I believe. No hurricane threat there.

<eom>

[54anickel]

37. Thanks, I remember reading about it quite a while ago - some

Environmental Impact Study or something like that. Figured it was probably built to withstand hurricanes and storms.

[Massacure]

73. The SPR is in a natural rock formation along Texas and Louisiana.

The SPR will remain untouched, but who knows how much of the equipment to pump it, move it, and refine it is left.

[Massacure]

17. I told you this would happen.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4471968&mesg_id=4471968

[Junkdrawer]

19. We both did...This one was like shooting fish in an oil barrel...

Is Katrina a “Perfect Storm” for Oil Futures? ($70 Oil????)

[Massacure]

26. Yup.

Was obvious to those of us with our eyes open. :)

[durablend]

27. $70 oil?!?

PFFT!

That'll seem like a BARGAIN tomorrow

[Junkdrawer]

29. Online trading here...

http://www.nymex.com/index.aspx

[wildcat78]

46. Just filled up.

Told my neighbor - who's a BIG * supporter - that he better fill up his Yukon today for the price of oil is going to skyrocket with Katrina. He told me that the hurricane will have no effect on the price of oil...

These people live in their own world.

[NYC]

54. Please report back to us

the next time he buys gas. I imagine a little reality will set in then.

[sakabatou]

61. Heheh

I feel sorry for him... no wait, I don't! BWAHAHA!

[tom_paine]

30. Well, it's not as if the course of Totalitarianism is difficult to predict

Once you know what you're looking at, it's easy because Totalitarianism relies on the will of a very few, who are generally monstrously evil.

Like Imperial Amerika.

EASY!

The Busheviks implicitly (and sometimes explicitly) promised that gas prices would go down when we invaded Iraq, therefore the EXACT OPPOSITE had a 100% chance of being true.

WWFMD?

What Would Ferdinand Marcos Do? That is about the only relevant question to predicting the political future of Imperial Amerika.

[wli]

36. more like "what would Adolf Hitler do?" n/t

[Renew Deal]

39. You did.

And you deserve credit for that. Most DUers are oil smart. Lots of us have filled up tanks today.

[cliss]

68. Ain't it the truth.

After I read this thread, I high-tailed it down to my local gas station. Filled that baby to the top! Something I don't think I've ever done before.

Next, I went out to my parents' house. I washed my mom's car. Urged her to get down to the station and "fill er up". I am very thankful for the DU.

[Barrett808]

18. Oil, Gas May Soar as Storm Shuts U.S. Gulf Production

Aug. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Crude-oil and natural-gas prices may soar after Hurricane Katrina moved into production regions of the Gulf of Mexico, forcing companies including Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. to close operations.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc said it shut 420,000 barrels of daily oil production in the Gulf. The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, which handles about 11 percent of U.S. imports, closed yesterday. Katrina is one of the most powerful storms ever to enter the Gulf, source of about 30 percent of U.S. oil production and 24 percent of the country's natural gas.

``Forecasters are saying Katrina could do more energy damage than any storm in recent years,'' said Jason Schenker an economist with Wachovia Corp. in Charlotte. ``It's not just that there's going to be outages for the next couple of days. With shutdowns and damage at platforms and refineries, the bullish impact could be felt for the rest of the year.''

Crude oil for October delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange dropped $1.36, or 2 percent, to close at $66.13 a barrel on Aug. 26. Prices fell amid forecasts that Katrina would stay closer to Florida and miss most producing regions of the Gulf. The futures touched a record $68 a barrel Aug. 25 as the storm gained strength.

``I think it is easily conceivable that we could see crude futures hit $70 this week,'' Schenker said.

(more)

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

[Barrett808]

21. "lost production is equal to almost all the spare capacity in the world"

``The storm is more severe than we've thought; it's turned into a monster,'' Sankey said. ``Crude is going to open stronger on Monday. The amount of lost production is equal to almost all the spare capacity in the world.''

[glendavis77]

51. They always blame it on a storm or the death of some arab king

Interestly, prices never go back down after the storm. Or after the death of the arab king.

[VegasWolf]

20. Hah!!! I smell ANOTHER banner year for OIL company PROFITS!!!

[durablend]

24. I'm getting up at 5am tomorrow

And filling the 5 gallon gas can in the shed (car's already filled). Hope they don't jack the price up overnight (was $2.47 yesterday).

Not taking ANY chances.

[pstans]

25. I filled up both cars yesterday

but today I went to K Mart and bought a 5 gallon gas can and filled that and my 2 gallon can up. Call me paranoid, but I feel a little safer with some reserve in my garage.

[Shadder]

58. Same hing here

I topped the tank off this afternoon and filled up 5, 2 and 1 gallon cans to keep in the garage just in case. If it turns out that we don't need it for the car I can always use it for the lawn mower. Better safe.....

[tom_paine]

28. Bushevik thefts ALWAYS go down easier when frosted with a patina of truth

Just enough to get the Imperial Subjects to swallow it.

The interesting thing is, I have no doubt that the component of the theft that is real (i.e. Chinese Market Pressures, Hurricane Katrina, etc.) has caused prices to rise from whatever it really was when they were charging us $1.75 during the Phony Energy Crisis of 2001 to whatever they will gouge us for during the Phony Energy Crisis of 2005 (probably $3.50, though now that theft is fully legal for the Allies of Caesar, there is in a practical sense no limit to what they could impose...it's not like we would rebel or anything).

After 9/11, for a very brief time, I believe that the Allies of Caesar gave up their "extra gouge" to help Caesar and also to help bolster the wounded psychologies of the Impeial Subjects, who didn;t know that the Bushevik Anthrax Assassin was about to deliver another mental blow to them (us).

What was it then, about $1.10?

Figure by the time it's up to $3.50, the REAL price MIGHT be $2.00.

In any case, the simple fact is that every time we fill up at the pump, we are paying for our own "virtual" enslavement, just over the next horizon after the next Bushfriends' Attack on our nation.

[The_Casual_Observer]

31. It will be $100 before exxon/halliburton are done with us.

The damage will be irreversible.

[MadisonProgressive]

32. I can bike to work in about 15-20 minutes, thank God...

[Doremus]

33. I'm within walking distance to my shop ...

But often have to travel 20 or more miles away in a cargo van to pick up my inventory. :(

Not that that will continue for very long ... people paying $4-5/gal. have no money left to buy my wares. :( :(

[Porcupine]

34. I have a 3 mile commute with 200 lbs. of tools...

so biking is NOT an option. Luckily at work I drive the company truck. Many people in the trades are going to be taking huge hits this week.

[VegasWolf]

35. I guess God forgot to tell Bush about this little side effect. nt

[wanpete]

38. Crap! Wonder how long it will be before drive or eat or take meds?

[durablend]

43. Another three or four months would be my guess.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

:sarcasm:

[Conservativesux]

72. Lots of disabled and elderly are already there. BushAmerica lives !

This doofus * doesnt care about anything but what his masters tell him to care about.

[not fooled]

87. ..."drive or eat or take meds?"

OR heat the house this winter.:scared: :scared: :scared:

[Deja Q]

41. Isn't capitalism great?

Oil is just like every other commodity.

[niallmac]

44. I filled up today!

Topped off both tires to 36lbs psi. Oiled by bike chain and even washed my dayglo bike wind breaker. Seriously, we live within biking distance of my work on purpose. We hold off on buying a house right now for a reason as 'pop goes the weasel' approaches those fateful notes. We just do not trust the immediate future. Let us all be fortunate and float like corks on the effluent our great leader brings this way.

[Doremus]

48. I love your imagery. :)

Let us all be fortunate and float like corks on the effluent our great leader brings this way.

Well said. And may it be so.

[glendavis77]

47. 100+ Americans interested in buying oil directly from Venezuela

I will give you the link just to be responsible, but it's in Spanish so many of you may want to skip it.
"President Hugo Chavez Frias has announced that more than 100 Americans have shown interest through the Venezuelan embassy to the United States to purchase oil (The word is combustible, I'll assume it's oil).
The exact number given is 140 requests.
Chavez said this in his radio show "Alo presidente".
Chavez noted that many Americans die in the cold winter due to lack of heating. He went on to say that this initiative could have a positive impact in 7 to 8 million Americans.
http://www.abn.info.ve/go_news5.php?articulo=17169&lee=3

[Lori Price CLG]

81. Imagine if Chavez was a Bush ally. Faux would be campaigning for...

people to 'sign up' morning, noon, and night.

Lori Price

[WillyT]

49. Asia\Pacific Reading Red This Morning !!!

If I'm reading this right.

:shrug:

http://finance.yahoo.com/intlindices?e=asia

Check out the headlines there too.

[glendavis77]

50. It's not $70 you exaggerated liberals

I checked and it's $69.90
:patriot:
:sarcasm:

[Conservativesux]

57. Alright, carry on then; nothing to worry about on the home front.

:)

[ShockediSay]

65. Sort of reminds me of Enron

Big (?quid pro quo) campaign "contributions"*

Big price run up on the back of the common citizenry

Some poor citizens making supreme sacrifices and suffering losses of the same magnitude while others profit like lords of the manor.

[NYC]

53. $70.80

Crude oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) surged as high as $70.80 a barrel, up $4.67 a barrel, as traders feared lasting damage could further strain an industry that has struggled to keep up with demand for two years.

[glendavis77]

55. Link for up-to-the-second oil prices

http://bloomberg.com/energy/
Just refresh the page and you will see the updated price every second.

[IDemo]

56. 'Bullish' oil market based on disaster = bullshit

If I read or hear another MSM analysis of the current situation where the market is described as 'bullish' (meaning a Bull market for oil), I'm going to hurl. And yes, at least one 'expert' has described the disastrous results of hurricane Katrina on oil infrastructure as potentially 'bullish' for the oil market. The oil industry, already enjoying a 52 billion dollar profit last year (if I remember correctly) has been awarded tax breaks under the so-called Energy Bill. When does it become abundantly clear that excessive profits by energy companies at the expense of the standard of living and the economy, are anathema to the well-being of citizens?

[Conservativesux]

79. Maybe its time for a tax revolt to show these pricks who is in charge.

Every one talks about someone else striking, like truckers, but what if we all just said NO on April 15 ?????

Put your money where your mouth is.

[Sgent]

59. Col. Terry Ebber (sp)

Director of the SE Region Home Security (in NOLA)

Just said he would be buying oil futures if it wasn't Sunday.

[Strelnikov_]

63. Yea, Well, I'm Waitin' For Brit Hume's Recommendation

He is the acknowledged expert on profiting from tragedy.

[pinniped]

64. Good news for the * crime syndicate.

.

[cliss]

69. Now, guess what this will do to Bush's ratings?

If you guessed "take a nosedive" you are probably correct.

Americans are an independent sort. You take away their ability to drive, and you're asking for trouble. That's like the last vestige, the one thing that can't be tampered with.

It looks like gas prices are going in one direction: through the roof. And guess who will take the blame for that?

I expect rioting once Katrina dies down. I fully expect to see Bush Effigies carried in the streets, and then dealt with.

He can't survive this.

[sunnystarr]

74. Please don't jump all over me for this question

In the countries that produce oil, like Venezuela and the middle east, the price of gas is pennies a gallon (Venezuela is like 12 cents a gallon).

Oil, as a natural resource, belongs to the people and the people of the countries that have oil assets benefit from their resource by paying these minimal amounts.

Why is it different here? Who owns our oil? Are they American companies? How did corporations get to own our national resources? Why are they allowed to sell it somewhere else before supplying our country? Isn't there something wrong with that?

[Skidmore]

76. The middle men and bankers are gouging us.

[northzax]

77. several reasons

first off, we don't produce nearly enough to meet our needs. Second off, oil is a global commodity, in order to get access to the oil we need to importn, we pay global prices. If we took our own domestic product off the global table, prices would rise even further. so it's 12 cents a gallon in Venezuela? what's the average income in Venezuela? the per capital annual share of GDP is $5,800. and 47% of the population is below the venezuelan poverty line. (stats from the WorldFactbook http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ve.html) compare that to the US, where the per capita GDP is $40,000, and 12% (STILL too high) are below the poverty line. prices are apples and oranges between different economies.

Lastly, notice how petro-states are invariable strife torn and have insane differences between rich and poor? Gas is artificially kept cheap as a way to placate the masses and avoid revolution. Chavez is hardly your friendly neighborhood liberal, and cheap gas is just about all he has going for him among some segments of the Venezuelan population.

[sunnystarr]

82. It's hard for me to buy the demonization of Chavez

When I read things like the following and many many other similar accounts it makes me wonder what's so wrong with Chavez. I've read how it was for the majority of Venezuelans before Chavez. It's no wonder the people love him. His election and recall were monitored both by Jimmy Carters organization and the UN I believe and were considered transparent - something we can't say for our own elections. It seems like when it comes time to choose between a man who is for the people and a man who is for the elite few we're expected to back the elite. Especially when the division is white and brown.

Walk through poor barrios in Venezuela and you’ll hear the same stories over and over. The very poor can now go to a designated home in the neighborhood to pick up a hot meal every day. The elderly have monthly pensions that allow them to live with dignity. Young people can take advantage of greatly expanded free college programs. And with 13,000 Cuban doctors spread throughout the country and reaching over half the population, the poor now have their own family doctors on call 24-hours a day—doctors who even make house calls. This heath care, including medicines, are all free.

The programs are being paid for with the income from Venezuela's oil, which is at an all-time high. Previously, the nation's oil wealth benefited only a small, well-connected elite who kept themselves in power for 40 years through an electoral duopoly. The vast majority in this oil-rich nation remained poor, disenfranchised, and disempowered. With the election of Hugo Chavez in 1998 on a platform of sharing the nation's oil wealth with the poorest, all that has changed. The poor are now not only recipients of these programs, they are actively engaged in running them. They're turning abandoned buildings into neighborhood centers, running community kitchens, volunteering to teach in the literacy programs and organizing neighborhood health brigades.

Infuriated by their loss of power, the elite have used their control over the media to blast Chavez for destroying the economy, cozying up to Fidel Castro, antagonizing the US government, expropriating private property, and governing through dictatorial rule.

They also accuse Chavez of using the social programs that have so improved the lives of the poor as a way to gain voters. In this, the opposition is right: providing people with free health care, education, small business loans and job training is certainly a good way to win the hearts and minds of the people.

Sunday's overwhelming victory for Chavez has given him an even stronger mandate for his “revolution for the poor.” It should also give George Bush and John Kerry reason to rethink their attitude towards Hugo Chavez. Rather than demonizing him as a new Fidel Castro and stoking the opposition, US leaders should embrace Venezuela's social transformation and the way it is empowering people like Olivia Delfino.

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0817-01.htm

[TX-RAT]

78. Who owns our oil?

Unless it's federal or state owned,(BLM, National Parks)it belongs to whoever has the mineral rights, like farmers and ranchers.

[LeftHander]

75. riding bike twice a week to work....

That is just enough to offset the rise in gas prices. I can't afford to budget more money for gas.

12 miles one way...

I was always wanting to start communting by bike again.

It is a nice ride, though the first few times have been tough...I'm little out of shape. My old mtn bike was long converted to rugged commuter bike. (like to have a go-fast hybrid sport bike...)

However I am a lone cyclist on my route. I am seeing more motorcycles and scooters though.

Amazing how unbike friendly much of the western suburbs of Milwaukee are for commuting.

It is getting better though. New roads with wide shoulders and bike path are part of my commute. This didn't exist last year. As well as a beautiful twisty 3 mile section through farm fields and woods.

Basically I'm lucky only two nasty traffic spots. Where I feel like I'll be struck from behind at any time...

Wouldn;t that suck. Try to conserve gas by riding bike only to be crippled by a SUV whose driver is on the cell phone...

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

84. Been commuting by bike for a year now

I was a bit out of shape when I started but it's pretty easy now. I prefer cycling to driving. These days I only drive when the weather's shitty.

[gasolineboycottday]

80. Repetitive boycotts work

Hi, I'm with Gasoline Boycott Day 3 (this Labor Day - 9-5-2005)
You can catch us on Clear Channel Tri-State Wed. Aug. 31, 2005 at 7:15 am.

http://www.gasolineboycottday.org

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

85. Bush's buddies are rolling in money now.

Just like pigs in slop.

[mbperrin]

86. Gas was $2.55 here this morning in West Texas..

just got back from the store, it's $2.67

[CatholicEdHead]

88. Gas ranged from $2.49 to $2.61 across southern MN today

but I saw that it was $2.80 in the middle of the Twin Cities.

[Maggie_May]

89. This was yesterday

when prices were not as high as they are going to get. Right now in my state $2.65. Short story went into gas station gas owner ask the guy paying for gas (Did you pump twice?)guy says no. Gas station owner says I got taken. Guy says how much did you lose. Gas owner says $10.06. Guy says hell if I am going to take you its going to be for a hell of a lot more!
When back today to top off because I know prices are going up and it is pay before you pump. I live in a very small community its like everyone know everyone I am afraid this is going to get nuts.