Gas prices are $2.48 for premium where I live. For regular, the national average is like $2.29 according to gaspricewatch.com. One question remains: Does OPEC have enough oil to boost production? They have been caught prettying up their figures in the past...
http://money.cnn.com/2005/04/04/mark...reut/index.htm
Oil edges lower on OPEC talk
Crude hits record trading high but falls back after cartel says it may boost production again.
April 4, 2005: 4:30 PM EDT
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices hit record highs for the second straight session Monday but backed off to close lower as OPEC said it was weighing another boost to production.
U.S. crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange hit a trading high of $58.28 a barrel -- the highest on record for a futures contract -- before ending the day at $57.01 a barrel, down 26 cents from Friday.
Monday's trading high above $58 topped Friday's high of $57.70, which was triggered by a forecast from Goldman Sachs (Research) that prices could spike above $105 because of robust global demand and tight spare capacity. Prices have surged 5 percent since the report was released.
In London, Brent crude slipped 28 cents to $56.23 a barrel.
OPEC President Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahd al-Sabah said Monday cartel oil ministers had begun telephone consultations on possibly boosting production by another 500,000 barrels a day to cool prices.
"If there is a decision it should be in the next two weeks. For that, if there will be any new production, it should be in May," said Sheikh Ahmad, also Kuwait's energy minister.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries raised output limits by 500,000 barrels per day to 27.5 million bpd in mid-March and left room for a second rise before a June meeting if prices failed to ease below $55.
Treasury Secretary John Snow Monday described high energy prices as "extraordinarily unwelcome" and said they will take a toll on the economy's generally positive performance.
"The American economy seems to be on a good path, but I do worry about energy," Snow told a tax executives' conference. "We're not an economy geared to $60 (a barrel) oil."
In inflation-adjusted terms, oil prices remain well-below the roughly $90-a-barrel peak hit in the 1980s, according to calculations by the International Energy Agency.
More OPEC oil?
Nigeria's presidential oil adviser Edmund Daukoru said on Sunday a decision to increase OPEC crude output could happen within two weeks if prices stayed above $55.
"They shrugged off the first one but it will be more difficult for them to shrug off the second one," Daukoru said, referring to the market reaction to OPEC's output rise.
An OPEC delegate said on Monday the group's 10 members under formal output limits, excluding Iraq, would pump 28.1 million bpd in April, which is about 400,000 bpd above estimated March production and 600,000 bpd higher than the current ceiling.
U.S. oil prices have surged by more than 30 percent this year, with big-money speculative funds buying heavily on signs that robust demand growth in Asia's emerging economies and the United States would strain world supply.
Non-OPEC producers are pumping at full tilt and have little spare capacity to offer the market.
While spare production capacity shrinks, full-pace output in producer nations has translated into swelling stockpiles of crude oil and other fuels in the United States.
U.S. crude oil supplies are running near a three-year high and analysts are expecting another increase to be shown in the next batch of government inventory data this week.
U.S. gasoline supplies are also running at a surplus, but strong demand and recent refinery problems have raised concerns about the adequacy of inventories ahead of the peak summer demand season.
U.S. gasoline futures struck an all-time high on Monday of $1.7491 a gallon, later easing to $1.7200, 1.10 cents lower on the day.
http://money.cnn.com/2005/04/04/mark...reut/index.htm
Oil edges lower on OPEC talk
Crude hits record trading high but falls back after cartel says it may boost production again.
April 4, 2005: 4:30 PM EDT
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices hit record highs for the second straight session Monday but backed off to close lower as OPEC said it was weighing another boost to production.
U.S. crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange hit a trading high of $58.28 a barrel -- the highest on record for a futures contract -- before ending the day at $57.01 a barrel, down 26 cents from Friday.
Monday's trading high above $58 topped Friday's high of $57.70, which was triggered by a forecast from Goldman Sachs (Research) that prices could spike above $105 because of robust global demand and tight spare capacity. Prices have surged 5 percent since the report was released.
In London, Brent crude slipped 28 cents to $56.23 a barrel.
OPEC President Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahd al-Sabah said Monday cartel oil ministers had begun telephone consultations on possibly boosting production by another 500,000 barrels a day to cool prices.
"If there is a decision it should be in the next two weeks. For that, if there will be any new production, it should be in May," said Sheikh Ahmad, also Kuwait's energy minister.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries raised output limits by 500,000 barrels per day to 27.5 million bpd in mid-March and left room for a second rise before a June meeting if prices failed to ease below $55.
Treasury Secretary John Snow Monday described high energy prices as "extraordinarily unwelcome" and said they will take a toll on the economy's generally positive performance.
"The American economy seems to be on a good path, but I do worry about energy," Snow told a tax executives' conference. "We're not an economy geared to $60 (a barrel) oil."
In inflation-adjusted terms, oil prices remain well-below the roughly $90-a-barrel peak hit in the 1980s, according to calculations by the International Energy Agency.
More OPEC oil?
Nigeria's presidential oil adviser Edmund Daukoru said on Sunday a decision to increase OPEC crude output could happen within two weeks if prices stayed above $55.
"They shrugged off the first one but it will be more difficult for them to shrug off the second one," Daukoru said, referring to the market reaction to OPEC's output rise.
An OPEC delegate said on Monday the group's 10 members under formal output limits, excluding Iraq, would pump 28.1 million bpd in April, which is about 400,000 bpd above estimated March production and 600,000 bpd higher than the current ceiling.
U.S. oil prices have surged by more than 30 percent this year, with big-money speculative funds buying heavily on signs that robust demand growth in Asia's emerging economies and the United States would strain world supply.
Non-OPEC producers are pumping at full tilt and have little spare capacity to offer the market.
While spare production capacity shrinks, full-pace output in producer nations has translated into swelling stockpiles of crude oil and other fuels in the United States.
U.S. crude oil supplies are running near a three-year high and analysts are expecting another increase to be shown in the next batch of government inventory data this week.
U.S. gasoline supplies are also running at a surplus, but strong demand and recent refinery problems have raised concerns about the adequacy of inventories ahead of the peak summer demand season.
U.S. gasoline futures struck an all-time high on Monday of $1.7491 a gallon, later easing to $1.7200, 1.10 cents lower on the day.
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