Fear Pushes Oil Prices Up More Than $1

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=businessNews&storyID=4571717

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices raced more than $1 higher on Monday as signals that al Qaeda was behind last week's bombings in Madrid raised fears of future attacks that could disrupt energy supplies.

U.S. light crude prices (CLc1: Quote, Profile, Research) (0#CL:: Quote, Profile, Research) settled up $1.25 at $37.44 a barrel, flirting with a one-year high hit last week. London Brent crude (LCOc1: Quote, Profile, Research) jumped $1.56 to $33.80 a barrel, a fresh one-year high.

Evidence that al Qaeda may have had a hand in the Madrid train bombings that killed 200 people and wounded more than 1,400 others triggered worries of more attacks on countries that supported the U.S. war on Iraq.

Spain said Sunday it had a videotape, purportedly from Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda, saying it carried out the attacks to punish Madrid for backing the U.S.-led war on Iraq.

more

[wuushew]

1. Is it possible BFEE tried to blame ETA in order to prop up the weak market

n/t?

[Robbien]

2. Cow patties

Higher prices couldn't possibly have anything to do with OPEC saying they are going to cut production of oil, could it? Oh, no.

[whistle]

3. Now it strikes me that when crude oil hits $40.00 per barrel...

...something happens to the whole economic balance of oil pricing. However, I have not stayed on top of this. Does it mean that oil reserves in the U.S. are again economic to go after, or oil substitutes are then feasible to begin to use, or something else, like there is no going back? Help me out here, or did I only dream that.:eyes: :think: :crazy:

[whistle]

4. Here is something on the $40 per barrel price of crude oil..

...from last year:

Oil Shale — An Alternate Energy Source

To date, the use of synthetic fuels produced from oil shale is not a widespread practice because producing it is more costly than just refining crude petroleum. However, as world energy demands escalate, the developments of alternate energy sources escalate as well.

The deposits of oil shale in United States are massive. The processing of oil shale has gone through cycles of development and commercialization without achieving a competitive cost of production to date. Ultimately, new or improved technology will produce synthetic fuels efficiently and economically.

Roberts & Schaefer Company was awarded an engineering study under a subcontract agreement between the University of Alabama and the U.S. Department of Energy. This engineering study provided the preliminary design of a commercial processing facility to produce 39,956 tons (36,247 tonnes) per day of run-of-mine eastern oil shale to produce 4.38 million tons (3.97 million tonnes) per year of concentrate. The processing plant’s design recovery of kerogen (bituminous material in shale that yields oil when heated) was 92%, which with hydro-retorting (quick removal of hot water) would produce approximately 20,000 barrels of oil per day.

The mining of oil shale can be accomplished by one of two different processes. The higher strength shales either need to be fractured by blasting prior to using a shovel such as P&H markets or it would need to be "cut" by mining machines similar to what Joy produces. In the event that the oil shales are underground, they would need to be mined in a similar manner to coal. There are several small test sites that are evaluating the economics of mining oil shales in the U.S., but until oil hits the $40 per barrel level it is felt that no significant ventures in this industry will appear. The current cost of a barrel of oil is $29.77 (NYMEX 1/23/03).


Source: U.S. Department of Energy and Joe Zimmerman – Franklin

[yltlatl]

5. Interesting, but...

U.S. consumption in 2003 was close to 20 MILLION barrels of oil per day, which means at 2003 demand levels, and assuming this article's figures, oil shale can barely provide 1/1000th of U.S. daily demand. That doesn't account for the fact that US demand is expected to grow by about 400,000 barrels per day in 2004.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/usa.html

Not only that, but how do you heat all that kerogen and hydro-retort it? Bet you don't do it with woodstoves--you probably need oil. Oh yeah, and you probably first need to use a whole bunch of oil just to build a production plant for recovering kerogen and hydro-retorting it, since it doesn't sound like they've gotten that far with it. Oh yeah, and you need oil to run all those mining machines to get the shale out of the ground in the first place.

So is oil shale really a viable alternative?

I'll tell you what's going to happen when oil hits $40 / barrel. Sure maybe they'll try this, because there will be riches to be had for someone by doing it, since our corrupt politicians will probably grant some corporations "alternative fuel" subsidies to pursue this folly. But what will happen in a way that's obvious to everyone is that our economy will begin to suck a lot more as prices for just about everything begin to climb.

[myomy]

6. Anybody buying a new SUV?

.

[jmcgowanjm]

7. "Before the end of the decade is over, we will have $60 oil,"

http://www.newsgateway.ca/index.html

Read this and know more than 99.99%
of the population about what's happening.

Thanx to George Ure -urbansurvival
-and if you're reading this George,
welcome to Texas and Arkansas is real
nice too.

Do this one first:
A Global Overview of the Oil and Gas Industry

And then sit back and get relaxed and do
this one:
The Saudi Arabian Oil Miracle Center for Strategic & International Studies

http://www.simmonsco-intl.com/research.aspx?Type=msspeeches

[eablair3]

"fears of future attacks that could disrupt energy supplies. "

dupe

[eablair3]

8. "fears of future attacks that could disrupt energy supplies. "

well, that's a good reason to raise oil prices. So, it doesn't matter if energy supplies actually get disrupted or not. As long as there is a "fear", then they raise prices.

There always seems to be a reason to raise the prices.

It's a handful of companies that raise these prices, and they are making billions and billions. What an industry to be in. Everyone needs gas and heat, and those supplying the commodity are not regulated and can make a killing. And, they are.