Oil futures hit $100 a barrel

[Newsjock]

Source: Associated Press

NEW YORK — Crude oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange hit $100 a barrel for the first time ever in intraday trading Wednesday.

Oil prices jumped sharply, setting a new trading record on supply concerns sparked by renewed violence in Nigeria and a warning that OPEC may not be able to meet its share of global oil demand by 2024.

Word that several Mexican oil export ports were closed due to rough weather added to the gains.

In Nigeria, bands of armed men invaded Port Harcourt, the center of the oil industry Tuesday, attacking two police stations and raiding the lobby of a major hotel. Four policemen, three civilians and six attackers were killed. The Niger Delta Vigilante Movement claimed responsibility for the attack.



Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/business/5420126.html

[YvonneCa]

1. Saw that breaking...

...on CNBC a few minutes ago. Happy New Year??? ;)

[Purveyor]

2. Here is a link from CNN reporting this event:

http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/02/markets/oil/index.htm

I'm curious as to what is up with Mexico halting exports???

[Lone_Star_Dem]

5. Last I heard there were two ports closed in Mexico due to weather. n/t

[Delphinus]

22. I've also read,

not necessarily in relation to what's going on this moment, that Mexico will have to stop exporting their oil and start keeping their oil for themselves (due to declining oil production).

[derby378]

3. And Bush and Cheney rejoice...

Their retirement is going to be very sweet, indeed. Guess who suffers, though?

:mad:

[DemoTex]

4. Dow dropped another $50 to -$206 for the day.

Down 1.55%.

[swag]

6. Gee, I remember when that genius Ed "Y2K" Yardeni predicted

that the US invasion of Iraq would send the price of crude back down below $30/barrel.

[pokercat999]

24. I also remember a book about a $20-30K Dow Jones.

[swag]

25. Oh yes, "Dow 36,000" by Kevin Hassett (now a wank con pundit at AEI)

and James Glassman, Bush's nominee to replace Karen Hughes as the Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy.

Of course Bush wouldn't nominate anybody from the reality-based community for a post in his administration.

[Bigmack]

7. I forget....

what was oil selling for when Dumbya took over? (rhetorical question)

Wouldn't it have cheaper to just BUY the oil?

[sam sarrha]

8. i hear that these unregulated gambling addicts are responsible for about 30% of the cost of gas, and

they can roll profits back into speculation with next to no taxes..

does anyone have accurate info on this, how much do they contribute to congress to continue to rip us off...??

i also heard that the 'Clinton Prosperity' was largely due to taxing those guys.. keeping the cost of things down and gaining revenue.. if i win the lottery i cant roll it into a tax free holding.. i would pay BIG TIME UP FRONT before i got a dime..!!

[madrchsod]

12. i`d say you are correct

the mortgage scam has run it`s course so now oil is the only game in town. there`s no reason for oil to be this high it`s just that they have conned everyone to think it should be.

[Bigmack]

9. Freeper comment...

"Liberals screamed forever that the war in Iraq was about oil. If it was, I’d say we lost."

Well.... Duhhhhhh!

[Fovea]

27. Imagine an oil war, fought by two oil men

whose goal was to *lower* oil prices.
If I were Jabba the Exxon CEO, I'd say 'mission accomplished'.

What an odd assumption on the part of the freepers.

[dipsydoodle]

10. Gold has hit an all time high too

Gold, which becomes cheaper for holders of other currencies when the dollar weakens, is seen as a haven in times of uncertainty and oil-led inflation.

Other metals prices have also risen, with platinum also at a record high.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7168419.stm

I guess they all go hand in hand.

[madrchsod]

13. the world is coming to an end! buy gold!

i guess we are going back to the gold standard...dam these guys are good-they have made hundreds of millions by making people afraid...

[ChazII]

11. Ouch is all I have to say. n/t

[spotbird]

14. A populist candidate would be very popular

in November. Unfortunately, voters will only have corporatists to chose from.

[Roland99]

15. Up *400%* under this administration. 400%!!

[RamboLiberal]

17. Yep I remember in 2000 when gas flirted with $1.65

I wondered if the oil men Bush and Cheney were having their oil buddies manipulate prices to screw Gore.

Another reason to give the finger to the f'in Bush voters. Damn I hate these people!

[RamboLiberal]

16. Sh*t is what I have to say!

Thanks Repukes for ignoring this coming crisis since Reagan!

Anyone see the piece on making bio fuel from pond scum on CNN this morning. Showed a greenhouse in the desert (New Mexico I believe) where it was being manufactured in giant hanging plastic bags. Guy on the piece claims he could build these on 1/10th the land area of New Mexico and make the U.S. completely oil independent. It is a far more efficient method than say raising corn for ethanol according to the guy they interviewed.

Bet the oil companies will squash this!

Couldn't find the CNN bit, but did find this article: http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/news/story?id=47237

[ConcernedCanuk]

19. Won't work - all your Pond Scum belong to Da White-House

,
,
,

nothing left over for the peasants.

[LeftHander]

18. Ralph Wakley - Oil Derrick worker...

Is reported to have strained his back and would not be able to report to work for 3 days upon Doctor's orders. This news sent oil futures soaring in the markets today. Oil futures trader Denny Olsen stated that hundreds of factors influence the futures price and any single factor can result in a price spike. "Last week a gull interrupted drilling on Platform 34a in the Gulf of Mexico for 15 minutes after it was caught in the derrick control room." Olsen went on, "All of traders jumped on this and started buying up Gulf oil. As a result prices went up. We sold later that day and turned 12 million in profit. Everything effects oil price."

[NickB79]

20. Anyone want to continue arguing whether or not we're at Peak Oil?

Or are we going to keep our heads buried in the sand for a few more years until the lights go out?

[gogogodzilla]

23. Or we could...

Convert all our major cities sewage treatment plants into thermal depolymerization facilities.

And actually convert our cr@p into oil.

At a little over half of America's population living in a major city, that's at least 150 million people. Furthermore, from what I've read, we release 2.2 pounds of waste a day. And the process converts 26% of the waste into oil. (the rest being mostly water)

Ergo: (150,000,000 x 2.2 lbs) x 0.26 = 85,800,000 lbs of oil per day

Considering:
one barrel of oil = 42 gallons
one gallon of oil = 6-8 pounds

Then this process would net us... between 255,000-340,000 barrels of oil per DAY.

That may not be a lot, but it's essentially free, as cities already charge for sewage treatment.

So New York (for example) could charge you for sewage treatment, and then turned around and sell the oil processed from it.

Will we do this, though? Not a chance in heck. The oil companies don't want competition... and the environmentalist automatically have a knee-jerk opposition to anything oil-related. So with both sides against it...

[liberal N proud]

21. Pushing the nation deeper into the recession no one is talking about

[CatholicEdHead]

26. Global oil demand by 2024?

Yep, let's jack the prices up in the short term for something way down the road.

[roamer65]

28. Don't worry, the Fed will just monetize the high oil price.

:sarcasm:

Helicopter Ben will just print more and drop rates.