Update 12: Crude Oil Prices Rise Above $73 a Barrel !!

[Breeze54]

http://www.forbes.com/technology/feeds/ap/2006/04/21/ap2686228.html

Update 12: Crude Oil Prices Rise Above $73 a Barrel
By GILLIAN WONG , 04.21.2006, 12:16 AM

Oil prices opened at a new record above $73 a barrel Friday amid concern about
Iran's nuclear ambitions and declining U.S. gasoline stocks.

Light, sweet crude for June delivery, which became the front-month contract Friday,
opened in Asian electronic trading at a high of US$73.50 a barrel - setting a new
intraday record for a front-month contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Snip-->
"And traders are not relenting on their worries of Iran," Gorey said, adding the
Iranian threat was responsible for adding at least US$15 per barrel to the oil price.

On Thursday, Hugo Chavez, president of Venezuela, one of the world's top oil producers,
said oil prices would reach US$100 a barrel should concern over Iran's nuclear weapons
capability lead the United States to invade that Middle Eastern nation. <--snip


The price of full service high octane gas reaches $4.049 dollars per gallon
Thursday, April 20, 2006, at a gas station in Beverly Hills, Calif.
DAMIAN DOVARGANES

[cliss]

1. Desperate times....

call for desperate measures.

These are really desperate people, in Washington. I believe they are coming apart at the seams.

Bombing a country is an act of desperation. It's like the last straw. It means negotiations have failed. When you are dusting off your nuclear warheads, you don't have a lot of alternatives.

If they do bomb, all our problems are going to seem like trivial nuisances, compared to what's about to come. It will not solve the oil crisis, as President Cheney believes.

We will not be able to "own" Iran, any more than we own Iraq.

[Oversea Visitor]

4. Intentional

insulting the China President and unknwoningly starting an economic war with them
He is FUCK

[freefall]

14. Yes, I think you nailed it as far as the President Hu was concerned.

I believe that the adminisration purposely allowed the demonstrations and heckler in order to humiliate Hu. It is hard to believe that the woman who screamed for three minutes during President Hu's White House speech was acidentally overlooked when credentials were checked. Especially since the Chinese had asked in advance that special care be taken in checking out the people who were admitted to this event. As with so many things regarding this administration, they were either incredibly incompetent or the mistakes were made intentionally. In this case I have to believe it was intentional. I agree with you, Oversea Visitor, that it backfired on them. Hu was definitely angry and saw through the whole thing. The likleihood is he wouldn't have given them much of what they wanted anyway, but his reception is sure to antagonize the Chinese, who have us by the short-hairs economically, and make future negotiations on a variety of issues more difficult.

Peace,

freefall

[Breeze54]

7. Agreed! They are desperate!

I wonder if that's why they want to test that huge bomb in Nevada?

It's like 700 TONS and will have a mushroom cloud
~~~~~~~

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/northamerica/article_1151617.php/Pentagon_planning_massive_bomb_test_in_Nevada__Roundup_

Pentagon planning massive bomb test in Nevada (Roundup)

Washington/Las Vegas -

The US military plans to test a massive conventional bomb in Nevada this summer,
sparking protests and health concerns from local leaders.

The 700-tonne explosive will be detonated in the Nevada desert on June 2 to test
the bomb's ability to destroy deeply buried bunkers and illicit weapons storage
facilities, the Washington Post reported Friday.

'This is the largest single explosive we could imagine doing,' said James A Tegnelia,
director of the Pentagon's Defence Threat Reduction Agency.

The bomb consists of 700 tonnes of heavy ammonium nitrate fuel oil, which should create
a blast equivalent to 593 tonnes of TNT.

The munition was developed because the US Congress has refused to fund a Pentagon proposal
to develop nuclear-tipped bunker busting bombs.

But local leaders in Nevada have expressed worry over possible effects of the blast,
which will take place on the former nuclear testing grounds about 145 kilometres northwest
of Las Vegas.

'I am concerned that tests of this magnitude have been planned without providing Nevadans
with any information about the possible impact on their health or safety,'
said Democratic senator and minority leader Harry Reid, who represents Nevada.

'Given the level of contamination in areas where nuclear tests were conducted,
I have real concerns about the dust and other pollutants that will be released into the air
as a result of this explosion,' said Nevada Congresswoman Shelley Berkley.

~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.pahrumpvalleytimes.com/2006/04/12/news/mushroom.html

Group protests bomb test
An environmental and anti-nuclear group is calling on federal officials to cancel plans
to detonate 700 tons of explosives at the Nevada Test Site in an experiment designed
to study ground motion and shock waves.

The test, dubbed "Divine Strake" by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, is an
environmental threat because it could release into the air surface contamination from
previous atomic bomb tests, said Citizen Alert, a Nevada advocacy group.

The group is one of several to oppose the test since a Defense Department official
stirred controversy last week by saying
the June 2 explosion would create "a mushroom cloud over Las Vegas."

```````````
:nuke:

[lovuian]

2. This is really all about the Iran war...

theres no hiding it from the public...

[Renew Deal]

3. This is about price gouging.

Someone is smartly taking advantage of the Iran panic and making a lot of money off of it. What has changed in the last 2-3 months? Are supplies worse than expected? Did something else happen? I don't think so.

[killbotfactory]

12. And so long as republicans are in power

The government won't do a damn thing about it.

:mad:

[sarcasmo]

23. Wait until the Hurricanes come roaring up the gulf again.

Get ready for $4.00 a gallon for the cheap stuff $4. 30 for premium.

[kestrel91316]

24. No hurricanes needed. Just wait for summer vacation driving trips.

[wtmusic]

5. This is about rolling back prices in October

and letting that sigh of relief guide voters' choices at the polls.

100% manipulation.

[Oversea Visitor]

6. He might as well

do this as well at the same time
After all how fuck can one be.
STUPID has no definition to describe all this action.

[okoboji]

8. the almighty Bully Pulpit

"I will use the bully pulpit with OPEC." - George W Bush



still waiting Georgie......




on another note: remember the good 'ol days? President Clinton, bj's in the oval office, gas prices $1.35 per gallon ... and now we have Bush, giving the whole country one huge bj and not caring how high gas prices are.

[neverforget]

18. He IS using the bully pulpit but to scare the living shit out of the world

with his Iran war talk. :grr: :nuke:

[aquart]

9. Now would be a good time to marry a Venezuelan.

[corporate_mike]

19. Venezuelan population below poverty line : 67%

[killbotfactory]

25. Down from 80% thanks to the previous rulers

Hmm, that looks like a downward trend.

I bet you five bucks it goes down further in the future.

[DeltaLady]

10. This is but the tip of the iceberg

Think about how goods are transported and what this price "spike" will do to the cost of virtually everything from vegetables to VCR's. I expect massive nation-wide strikes very soon.

[radfringe]

11. concern over Iran's nuclear weapons capability

"And traders are not relenting on their worries of Iran," Gorey said, adding the Iranian threat was responsible for adding at least US$15 per barrel to the oil price.

On Thursday, Hugo Chavez, president of Venezuela, one of the world's top oil producers, said oil prices would reach US$100 a barrel should concern over Iran's nuclear weapons capability lead the United States to invade that Middle Eastern nation.

seems to me the traders do not trust bush* when bush* says he is dealing with this diplomatically...

the icing on the cake will be when WH tells us we will see cheaper oil prices after invading Iran... Iran's oil reserves will pay for it's own reconstruction...

:eyes: and we've all heard that before....

[legin]

16. don't like that $15 a barrel figure

Iran production is about 2.5 million barrels.

Using 'a 1% change in supply equals a 10% change in price', would equate to about 15$ price rise if that oil went missing from the market.

So that is sort of saying that the loss of Iranian oil has already been discounted by the market, i.e. that it has a 100% probability of happening.

[megatherium]

13. Imports to US of oil down since February, due to competition with Asia?

According to Jeffrey Brown, writing at Energy Bulletin, this is the real reason for the high price of oil:
http://www.energybulletin.net/15126.html

[hatrack]

15. No, since the emergency EU shipments (post-Katrina) ended

nt

[megatherium]

26. thanks -- energybulletin is a peak-oil site,

they must have over-interpreted the data.

[Delphinus]

21. Competition with Asia - brings up a thought

from reading my hometown paper yesterday. They had an AP article (so I don't know who to respond to), but they were talking about oil and gas prices and said that since China won't do anything, we're going to have to pay the price. I screamed: "WTF???!!!" China?! Why should it fall on China? Why don't WE do something like cut back instead of expecting everybody else to do so? Boy was I pissed.

[mhr]

17. We Probably Reached Peak Oil In December 05

Visit www.theoildrum.com for the details.

If true, all is lost as Bush has no choice but to go after the oil in Iran and Venezuela.

As Chaney said the "American Lifestyle is Non-Negotiable."

More wars to come.

[SupplyConcerns]

22. There are two general camps here on the oil price issue

One believes it's a conspiracy by the oil companies to artificially inflate prices for profit reasons.

The second camp, which has much more literature to back up its claims, recognizes the reality of peak oil. Sure, the oil companies are probably skimming a little off the top, but the dynamic driving prices it flat-out resource scarcity.

[leesa]

20. They're trying to make Americans BEG Bush to invade Iran.

As Forbes said, 'The price will go down when we invade'