Oil rises more than $10 to new record high

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080606/ap_on_bi_ge/oil_prices_175;_ylt=AoAymJxx.koybKoXyItSYDgE1vAI

Oil prices have shot up more than $10 to a new record above $138 a barrel after a Morgan Stanley analyst predicted prices could hit $150 by the Fourth of July. Traders were also rattled by rising tensions in the Middle East.

                    The meteoric surge builds on a huge jump on Thursday and sets the stage for the biggest two-day gain in the history of the New York Mercantile Exchange. A further weakening of the dollar helped keep prices high.

Light, sweet crude for July delivery jumped as high as $138.36 on the Nymex, then eased to $137.81, up $10.02.

That’s in one day, after rising $5.49 a barrel yesterday!! Holy panic, Batman!!

Tensions in the Middle East? Why that’s just unheard of!

The current equilibrium price is $50/barrel.

(sauce)

Nowhere has oil become any more scarce in the last few days.

Read on the plane last night, FT?, that a very few speculators/institutional traders tend to control the futures price of oil. When it comes to oil, I am absolutely a believer in conspiracies, including traders and the oil companies.

I went to the pump yesterday. It was $4.33 a gallon. That’s a good price now.

I think we’ll be at $5 a gallon by year’s end.

What does that even mean? Is that some mythical Wall Street "charting?’

(No, I’m actually not trying to be a smartass at this time.)

I had to look it up, too.

It is:

basically where the lines cross on a supply and demand curve. it’s the highest price people are willing to pay in order to satisfy demand. or in this case, the most expensive barrell of oil to take out of the ground

I heard today that only 5% of the oil futures trades end up being actual oil deliveries. And China is thirsty. I don’t know.

Basically, the Gov’t source that reported that inventories decreased recently was contradicted by an industry report that said the opposite. Now a conspiracy theorist could imagine why the opposite might be true, that industry would say that inventories were declining to drive up the price to grab more profits, while the Honest, Noble and Competent Government showed the Truth. But this way? Where the industry’s reporting numbers that suggest that they shouldn’t be making money, but our Noble Administration is saying the opposite?

C’mon folks… this isn’t religion nor is it rocket science.

Can’t trust the gummint, can’t trust Big Business and the Preacher Man wants to feel up your chilluns… what to do?

As someone who works in the Oil and Gas industry*, I applaud these prices. On the other hand, as someone who owns a car, SOMETHINGZ MUST EB DONE!!!

Seriously though, in North America Mom&Pops are drilling left and right. It’s worth it to drill and only pull out a few thousand barrels at these prices. Remember everyone: there’s no shortage of oil in the world (yet). It’s just a matter of how worth it it is to actually plunk down the however-many-millions to drill.

*My company helps find new reservoirs and expand existing ones…the kind of shit Chevron’s talking about in their new “we’re not evil!” commercial. So really, I’m part of the solution.

Use common sense. Ask yourself if an increase of demand of a single-digit percentage over the past year justifies the price more than doubling over the same time period.

I’m long Energy, riding that bubble, baby! (Of course, I sell some gravy every week, locking in those profits. I might be… a speculator! Indirectly, anyway.)

In November 2003 I remember thinking an evil government conspiracy had lowered the price of oil just in time for Bush’s reelection. You’ll note it has never gone back to its 11/2003 level since.

Is this same evil government conspiracy driving prices up now despite the looming election? Has the Oil Mafia in effect already given up on McCain? I am not up to speed with current conspiracy theory, please fill me in.

(Source: gasbuddy.com)

Ya might wanna get out while the gettin’s good.

I read today that hedge funds and speculators hold 60% of oil futures so if you need someone to blame, blame the speculators.

Where’s Cherub when you need him?

It’s more than doubled since I got in and I’ve taken out more than the original amount… so I might let it ride. That’s not investing, it’s gambling! Not my usual MO, but what the heck.

Speculators caused the dot-com bubble, the housing bubble and now the oil bubble. Something is broken.

Oh, I’m sure someone will be by to sell the “oil prices are only going to get worse” nonsense, along with the same Competent And Noble Government data and Clearly Unbiased Former Enron Advisor insight that’s been used in the past.