Oil nears $84 a barrel

[Lone_Star_Dem]

Last look it was at $83.80.

I suggest buying stock in bankets and coats. There's sure to be a run on them this winter.

The debate behind $80 oil
Industry executives say there's no reason crude prices should be anywhere near current levels. Others say the fundamentals are there, and Big Oil is playing politics.

By Steve Hargreaves, CNNMoney.com staff writer
September 20 2007: 2:42 PM EDT

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- To listen to Big Oil executives, there's no reason why a barrel of crude costs $80. But others say strong demand and limited supply justifies at least that much, and that the industry is clearly looking out for itself by saying oil is overvalued.

"No one has to wait at the gas pumps of the world. There is no physical problem," Jeroen van der Veer, head of Royal Dutch Shell, recently told reporters in Calgary. " a lot of psychology in the price."

Exxon declined to elaborate on Tillerson's remarks, and a spokesperson for Shell was unavailable for comment.

But for some, the motivations behind the executives claims are clear.

"They have political motivations for trying to talk down the price of oil," said Ken Carol, an oil company analyst at Johnson Rice & Co, a reserach and investment banking firm.

"If you were the favorite whipping boy of policy makers, wouldn't you say the same thing," said Mike Fitzpatrick, an analyst and trader on the energy desk at Man Financial in New York.

More at link: http://money.cnn.com/2007/09/20/news/economy/oil_execs/index.htm?postversion=2007092014