February 28th, 2008
Oil getting comfy above $100?
So it seems. A new all-time high today, well over $102 per barrel.
Many pundits seem mystified, given the signs of economic contraction worldwide.
The sinking of the dollar — an all time low against this week against the Euro, which now brings just over $1.50 — has something to do with it, certainly. If one charts the price of oil in Euros, or oil against gold, one sees that the weak dollar is a big part of the oil price spike.
What with the primaries and increasingly dire economic stats stateside, people seem to be forgetting the mideast. I wonder if people who take the Israeli-American threats against Iran seriously (Aprils has long been marked on certain calendars) are not stocking up on oil futures contracts.
ed says:
In retrospect I wonder if the military actions by the Colombian government — our prime (perhaps only) proxy in Latin America — may explain some of this abrupt turn in oil.
(Venezuela is in the middle of the fray and is a major exporter.)
Certainly Columbia would not have acted without consulting Bush-Cheney first. Word would have leaked thru the Oil Mafia.
Yesterday, Friday, six days after the Columbian “incursion,” oil closed over $105 per barrel.
And this week Goldman Sachs joined others in raising targets, and chatting about $200/bbl oil:
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/story.aspx?guid=%7BEBBA0488-3BF7-4D27-AB04-7842AD8E5C79%7D&link=http://www.247wallst.com/2008/03/the-200-oil-cal.html
March 8th, 2008 at 9:27 am