Oil Prices Drop, Close Below $50 Level

[merwin]

Oil Prices Drop, Close Below $50 Level

Oil prices closed below $50 a barrel for the first time in more than two months on Friday after declining by more than $5 a barrel in the past week on rising U.S. supplies and slower economic growth.

Light, sweet crude for June delivery fell $2.05 to settle at $49.72 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, where prices fell as low as $49.10. It was the lowest settlement price since Feb. 18, when Nymex oil futures closed at $48.35.

Oil broker Tom Bentz of BNP Paribas Futures said that from a technical trading perspective the oil market right now is "pretty much as bearish as you can get. It portends lower prices next week."

Bentz was still leery of declaring the end of high oil prices, however, saying that another runup above $50 a barrel would hardly come as a surprise given the tight global supply cushion and the market jitters about even the slightest output disruption. That said, in the near term prices could drop below $48 a barrel as early as next week, he said.

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And yet gas prices are still rising...

[booksenkatz]

1. Shrubby's hands must have been ever so soft 'n silky. NT

[Parche]

10. oil

Must have been that kiss between him and Saudia Sam!!!

Or was it the hand holding?

[jamesinca]

19. Hand holding and kissing

I hear Bush uses Palmolive for the dishes and the entire line up from Bed,Bath,and Beyond. As far as the kiss, we all know it is not a real kiss unless there is tongue involved.

[SmokingJacket]

2. Thanks, Abdullah!!

Couldn't do it without ya!

[skooooo]

3. Bush's man date with the Saudi prince helped!!!!!

GO GEORGE!

[GHOSTDANCER]

12. Don't be fooled. The new and improved ENRONing is still on course.

Enron, Exxon it's all the same. They turn the screws, you play the slave.

[ClintonTyree]

4. Sheep snap up stocks in appreciation.

It must be muttonhead's "jawboning" that got the prices down. :eyes:

[Runcible Spoon]

5. "light sweet crude"

ughh sounds almost like a neocon orgasm, eh? :evilgrin:

Asscroft: annoint me in light sweet crude! uhhhhhhhhh.......

[plasticsundance]

6. Yep ... Bush presents a press conference

And the next day: It's a miracle! It's a miracle! It's a miracle!

They try pulling out every trick in the book. They have no shame. Reality eludes them.

I was going to say: Bush gives a press conference, but I thought presents was more apropos

[reality based]

7. Now, who's going to go hold hands with Exxon

to get gasoline prices down?

[merwin]

11. Exxon can't afford that! They're only making 1 billion a month.

[Roland99]

8. And Saudia Arabia's admittance to the WTO is THAT much closer

WTG, *. Way to keep selling out our country to your oil buddies.

[Cobalt Violet]

9. Betcha gas prices don't come down though.

[Massacure]

13. About rising gas prices...

Whatever you buy was probably pumped two or three months ago. It takes a while to pump crude, transport the crude, refine the crude into gasoline and diesel, then transport the gasoline and diesel.

[merwin]

17. Very bad excuse. When oil prices went up, gas prices went up immediately.

[Massacure]

22. I know. It is the fear premium.

Don't ask me how to change it.

[fedsron2us]

14. Increase in supply or drop in demand ?

If it is the latter then it is an indicator that the world economy is slowing fast. I wonder what impact that is going to have on the rest of the stock market.

[Geo55]

16. It will see-saw for some time to come.....

when gas prices initial slowing impact is assimilated , demand will return.....and another round of feverish price increases will again boost the "floor" price per barrel.
Every cycle will reveal the simple fact of demand outstripping an already peaking and strained global supply.

[sarcasmo]

15. Barrel price may fall but the price at the pump will remain the same.

[merwin]

18. so it's ok to raise gas prices when oil goes up but

not to lower it when prices go down

[Conservativesux]

20. Exactly so, in BushAmerika

[Bleacher Creature]

21. Answer -- absofreakinlutely.

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