crude price is LARGELY driven by demand to build inventories in preparation for future consumption. there is speculation that supply will be stripped in the future. so basically the U.S. and China are hoarding oil as "strategic" reserves. one day, the trend will change. inventory goes from "cache" to "glut", perception is affected and the cycle renews once again.
btw, it is OPEC who are pushing the concept that the world has inadequate refining capacity. how much credibility does OPEC have. this is more a political game than anything imho.
it always puzzles me how the media covers these events. few years ago, when cotton was ripping, they had a string of analysts on cnbc try to figure out what was going on with softs and agricultural. my friend who's a floor clerk down at cbot called me up and he said, Chinese buying it ALL.
OPEC does what the oil financed power brokers that control US politics want. OPEC is a useless front organization that is used as a convenient scapegoat. Notice you did'nt blame the "arab producers" but you blame "OPEC". Who is "OPEC"? Interestingly enough, Gas prices doubled since an oilman was elected prez with the help of big oil $. A coincidence? I think not.
None of you have mentioned the one thing that has moved oil in the last few days. The potential strike starting midnight on 21st June by oil refiners in Norway. This happens every year. Each year government appoint arbitrage and once strike is averted the the price drops off. However they appear to be cutting it a bit fine this year.
Who let you in on the deep, dark industry secret? :eek: Do yourself a favor and do your homework before you post again, on this topic. There's already plenty of rubbish.
Now we're going to sue OPEC over high prices...I guess we should sue the Canadians and Mexicans as well? Senate allows U.S. to sue OPEC for oil price-fixing By Chris Baltimore Reuters Tuesday, June 21, 2005; 7:23 PM WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate voted on Tuesday to allow the U.S. government to sue the OPEC oil cartel on antitrust grounds in an outcry against crude oil prices that are fast approaching the $60 a barrel mark. The measure, added to wide-sweeping energy legislation by a voice vote, would give authority to the Department of Justice or Federal Trade Commission to sue the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. U.S. crude oil futures hit a record $59.70 per barrel on Tuesday, even after OPEC boosted its production to nearly 25-year highs and U.S. crude inventories swelled to their highest level since July 1999. OPEC's 11 members account for almost 40 percent of global crude oil production and two-thirds of proven reserves. "Gas and oil prices are too high and it's time that we do something about it," said Republican Sen. Mike DeWine of Ohio, who sponsored the amendment along with Democrat Herb Kohl of Wisconsin. "If OPEC were a group of international private companies rather than foreign governments, their action would be nothing more than an illegal price-fixing scheme," Kohl said. Republican Sen. Pete Domenici, the Senate's top energy bill negotiator, called the measure "nothing short of incredible," but did not act to block it. "These are sovereign nations," Domenici said. "For us to decide here on the Senate floor that we're going to establish some new forum and litigation against the OPEC cartel is nothing short of incredible." The measure is unlikely to survive a negotiating session when the Senate's energy legislation is reconciled with a version passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in April, Domenici said. The House energy bill contains no similar provision.
there's a ton of crude in russia. there's probably a ton under china and/or india, too. wait and see.
The USA doesn't have enough refining capacity because of regulations and from locals trying to stop them from being built..