Oil Tops $48 After U.S. Inventories Dive

[takumi]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=nm/markets_oil_dc

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices jumped more than a dollar, climbing above $48 a barrel Wednesday after U.S. data showed the disruption caused by Hurricane Ivan had eaten into fuel stocks.


Heating oil futures brushed record levels as concerns grew that stocks could prove inadequate for the northern hemisphere winter.


U.S. light crude leapt $1.44 to $48.20, only $1.20 below the $49.40 all-time high struck on Aug. 20.

. . .

[tom_paine]

1. And yet, gas prices remain stable or lower

Comrade Putin, mett your soulmate, Comrade Bushevik.

[Tempest]

3. Not around here

Gas is up 5 cents in the last day in my town.

And I'm betting it'll be up another 3-5 cents by the end of the day.

[Xipe Totec]

7. Autumn months are shoulder months

Gasoline prices rise in the Spring, peak in the Summer, drop in the Fall and bottom out in the Winter. Fuel oil prices do the opposite. Refineries switch from producing gasoline to producing heating oil in the Fall and reverse in the Spring. The real concern is that Oil companies delayed switching from gasoline to heating oil (to keep prices artificially low, thus helping Bush in November), and we will now see a big heating oil crunch this Winter. The oil companies don't care because this will happen after the election anyway, and besides, they will make out like the bandits that they are. If Kerry is elected, he will get the blame. If Bush is elected they'll just use it to try to open up the Alaskan Wildlife refuge to oil exploration again.

:grr:

[htuttle]

5. Hey, that's not entirely fair!

At least Putin seems to take some pride in his work!

[PROGRESSIVE1]

2. If it gets Bush out, then I'm for it.

It's a small price to pay!

[Kitsune]

4. I am soooo glad I drive a hybrid...

It's only going to get worse after November 3, regardless of who wins...the gas companies will have no reason to suck up the loss less-than-astronomical profits...

[Fovea]

6. It takes only a beating butterfly

in Peru to drive the price of oil up toward the desired floor of $50 BBL. The first snow storm it will be heating oil shortages.

The oil is flow is not meeting demand. Nor will it for anytime in my lifetime. Soon big ass oil shale extraction, then coal when oil hits 75$ bbl in say 5 years...

When will we see conservation? When we England and the Netherlands panic over rising ocean levels. At that point, we will be brought into Kyoto at economic gunpoint. Let's call it 2009, for convenience sake.

[Carolab]

8. All I can say is

invest in electric space heaters for your homes

[Xipe Totec]

9. Bzzt! Sorry, Try Again

Most Electric Power Generators in the Northeast run either on fuel oil or natural gas, both of which are tied to the price of crude. Electricity prices are also going to be affected severely by the oil crunch.

In Cape Cod we are scrod. ;(

[htuttle]

11. I know what you mean

I'm here in WI, and have been trying to figure out if I can retrofit a wood stove into the second floor of an old house. Just in case.

Barring that, if the gas goes off during the winter, we'll have to warm ourselves over a barrel of burning trash.

[livinbella]

10. I just bought a bike

who the hell can afford these prices?

[newyawker99]

15. Hi livinbella!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[The_Casual_Observer]

12. Wasn't it just a couple of weeks ago that they predicted

oil at $30 or below? These are the same heads that predicted a bull market this summer and rose petals in Iraq.

[fedsron2us]

13. How high oil prices underpin the Anglo-American hegemony

This article would suggest that high oil prices might be being used as a means of maintaining Anglo-American hegemony and undermining rivals in Europe and Asia.

http://www.currentconcerns.ch/config_03/print.php?source=../archive/2003/04/source/20030409.html&issue=No%204,%202003

I have read all the Peak Oil books and was convinced by most of the arguments. Now I am starting to have doubts. Quite a lot of the supporters for this theory, such as Matthew Simmons, are wired right into the heart of the Bush regime. Is an energy crisis about to be manufactured for political reasons ?

Time to don that tin foil hat.

[KansDem]

14. Start jawboning, George, start jawboning...!!!

Man, I wish he'd start jawboning...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x648497

on edit: Premium in over $2 now...

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

16. If it hits $50 a barrell * is out of here

Annd it may well I just read where China is importing more oil than ever before. That also underscores the reason why we need alternative energy sources. China's an emerging economy and we're going to have to compete with them for foreign oil.