$135 a barrel

[dtfl]

Speculators, it's them.

please explain why you think this


CNN had a good take on this subject earlier today, but I missed a lot of the substance.

What I did take from the report was that the current supply and demand for oil should place the cost of a barrel somewhere between $60 and $85. The report stated that "speculators" and the investments folks alone are driving up the price per barrel by $50 to $75.

The report concluded that the over-the-top price of oil was due mainly by investor greed and speculator hype and not the result of the Big Oil Companies or the Arab world.

Hopefully CNN will run that report again.

..and the Saudi Prince who "runs" the oil in that country agreed to produce more, but stated, last week in the news, that it would do NOTHING for the price of oil. He singled out the weak US dollar and speculation as two reasons.

 

[Dizel8]

Not sure there is a simple answer, the devaluing dollar, investors buying oil commodities to offset the dollar, increased demand worldwide, supply disruptions, continued instability in oil producing countries.

Even those paid to analyze are all over the place, Goldman Sach says $200 oil is likely, Lehman says it will fall to around 70.

The Saudis have another two million barrels a day capacity at present, but they cannot find buyers for it. The oil sands are coming along nicely, Canada now has the second largest, proven reserve in the world. Saw a report recently that said, Iraq may have reserves that equal Saudi, but little investment nor research have been done since 1990.

It may be all BS, but the OPEC nations persist in saying there is no shortage and indeed, you can buy all the oil you want, just have to pay the price for it.
Wonder what would happen if we stopped oil commodity trading?

Hopefully though, this time, as opposed to last time, with the oil embargo, we will indeed get our stuff together and come up with solutions that will reduce our reliance upon foreign oil.

 

[chuckthepilot]

http://www.explosm.net/comics/431/

 

[brokedash]

Greedy, fear mongering speculators are the answer to why oil is high. If you removed them, oil would cost in 60-80 dollar range, as mentioned above.

As long as the greedy fat cats are allowed a free pass they will keep jacking the price to profit for themselves. Eventually, if oil gets much higher, we consumers will stop doing less and pay for less fuel, which would cause a demand drop. Hopefully the traders on Wall St. that are in check with reality can get control of this situation and restore some order to the oil trade madness.

The Farm Bill was a giant POS that was signed after Kenny Boy stuffed politicians coffers to ensure there was no check and balance to the blatant practices of Enron. Same story is happening now, only Kenny has been replaced by greedy speculators and the are destroying not a company, but the US economy!

 

[list2002]

And they are American? WTF.

 

[CatfishVT9]

Tech bubble, IPO bubble, Housing bubble, Oil bubble.

There's 10 times the mount of money in oil today than there was just a few years ago. Who knows how long it will take for them to bail out for the next great investment.

Add to that comments by Bonne Pickens on CNBC tuesday morning that oil will be $150 by the end of the year (oil moved up $2.50 or so right after that) and then 535 of the stupidest people on the planet who live in Washington and only make policy that panders to their little niche of the country in order to get re-elected. Did you hear their latest idea? They passed a new bill allowing the Justice Department to sue OPEC. How F---in stupid is that. Maybe that's why oil jumped $5 a barrel yesterday.

And don't get me started on how we are help hostage by the environmental case mafia...........

 

[spitfire1500]

Tech bubble, IPO bubble, Housing bubble, Oil bubble.

There's 10 times the mount of money in oil today than there was just a few years ago. Who knows how long it will take for them to bail out for the next great investment.

Add to that comments by Bonne Pickens on CNBC tuesday morning that oil will be $150 by the end of the year (oil moved up $2.50 or so right after that) and then 535 of the stupidest people on the planet who live in Washington and only make policy that panders to their little niche of the country in order to get re-elected. Did you hear their latest idea? They passed a new bill allowing the Justice Department to sue OPEC. How F---in stupid is that. Maybe that's why oil jumped $5 a barrel yesterday.

And don't get me started on how we are help hostage by the environmental case mafia...........

I think it will be 150 in a few weeks.

 

[cjdriver]

Why do we have to ask Saudi Arabia to increase production? Are we not occupying one of the largest producers of oil in the world? WTF?

 

[Dizel8]

"The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, source of more than a third of the world's oil, started to reduce oil output in late 2006 to stem a fall in prices."

 

[Dizel8]

Why do we have to ask Saudi Arabia to increase production? Are we not occupying one of the largest producers of oil in the world? WTF?

Iraq claims largest oil reserves
Tue, 29 Apr 2008 08:42:52

An Iraqi oil official has claimed Iraq has the world's largest oil reserves, putting the country's reserves at 350 billion barrels.

Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih cited estimates from unnamed 'reputable sources, reputable companies' to put Iraq's reserves at 350 billion barrels, a figure that exceeds about 264 billion barrels of oil in Saudi Arabia and around 137 billion barrels in Iran.

The massive figure is way above the country's current proven reserves of 115 billion barrels as well.

"The real tragedy of this country is that Iraq is home to possibly the world's largest oil reserves. Some estimates put it at 350 billion barrels," he told Reuters.

"Extraction costs are very minimal compared to anywhere else in the world and we are still at 2 million barrels a day of exports. It's ridiculous."

Huge amounts of investment are needed for boosting oil production and reconstructing the war-shattered country.

While oil giants such as BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell and Total are lined up to invest in the country, Iraq is negotiating deals with these companies for two-year oil service contracts.

"We are still talking about technical service agreements with majors at a time when oil prices are at record levels and the world needs (our oil). To me that is obscene," he noted.