Source: Pablo Gorondi, Gillian Wong, Associated Press
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080306/oil_prices.html
Oil prices hit a record $105.10 a barrel Thursday, a day after a surprise drop in U.S. crude supplies and a decision by OPEC not to boost production.
Earlier this week, oil prices broke the previous inflation-adjusted price record of $103.76, set in 1980 during the Iran hostage crisis.
“The primary factor causing the surge in oil prices is the surprising drawdown in crude inventories, which caused traders to really react quite dramatically,” said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with Purvin & Gertz in Singapore.
Most analysts had expected the U.S. Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration to report oil stocks rose last week for the eighth straight time. Instead, the stocks fell 3.1 million barrels.
In Vienna, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said Wednesday it would hold production levels steady, at least for now.
The dollar, meanwhile, fell to a new low against the euro.
Analysts noted that U.S. oil inventories are at historical highs despite last week’s decline in crude supplies.
Traders also worried about the escalating of tensions between oil producing countries in Latin America.
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Let’s review…
*Falling U.S. dollar against other world currencies
*OPEC: ‘falling demand’ means they are holding production
*escalating tension in South America
*crap relations with Iran
*War in Iraq
*Exxon/Mobil in courts with Venezuela
*growing consumer competition from China and Russia
We’re setting new all time records on a DAILY basis here folks. Prices are currently higher than they were during the Iran hostage crisis in in 1980. Feeling the pinch yet?
And what happens if HUGO CHAVEZ stubs his toe this morning? Or MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD finds a beard hair in his morning bowl of Crazy Sheiks cereal (The Muslim version of Captain Crunch)? You can be DAMN sure they’ll find a way to blame the United States for it.
And you can count on our friends in the oil industry to trickle the pain on down to you and I. I think it’s safe to say that you can delete one more beer (or drink of your choice) from your weekend ‘forget about the whole goddamn mess of things’ excursion.
Don’t forget to give your friends at Exxon/Mobil the drive-by finger as you head home from work tonight.
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