9.27.2004
Oil Prices Surge Yet Again
Apparently thefighting in Iraq and tapping our national reserves isn't nearly enough to ease our nations petrol woes. Yes, the oil market, which set new records just a short while ago, was in a record-setting mood again today:
The U.S. light crude November contract rose 36 cents a barrel in after-hours electronic trading to reach $50, its loftiest level in the 21 years of trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange, before pulling back to $49.80. The contract had settled for the session at $49.64, its highest-ever settlement, up 76 cents from Friday's close.
London Brent, the benchmark for European crude imports, settled 60 cents higher at $45.13, after hitting a new record of $46.28 a barrel.Investment bank Morgan Stanley said it now believes surging crude oil prices could reach as high as $61 a barrel.
"We now think that (U.S.) crude oil could reach $61 before a meaningful sell-off occurs," investment bank Morgan Stanley said in a report to its private clients. "Long-term price patterns point to even higher prices," the report added.
Growing concerns over militancy in Nigeria, OPEC's fifth-largest producer, are compounding worries about supply security in Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
Excellent news, if you ask me, if only because it will make it harder for Bush to tout a "strong economy" on thursday.
Totally unrelated, I like Ted Kennedy. I think he's a good guy who fights for the little people. He may be a bit strange, perhaps he's not the guy you want in your corner, since people seem to be scared by him at times, but I'm certainly with him on his most recent comments:
...Kennedy said that by shifting attention from Osama bin Laden to Iraq, President George W. Bush had increased the danger of a "nuclear 9/11."
He said it was a good thing Bush was not in charge during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, a nuclear confrontation with Russia when Kennedy's brother was president.
"The war in Iraq has made the mushroom cloud more likely, not less likely," Kennedy said. Using imagery from the Vietnam War, he said U.S. soldiers are bogged down in a quagmire with no end in sight.
Republican Sen. John Cornyn said Monday it was wrong to suggest that the war in Iraq was a distraction. He also said lawmakers should be careful about making statements "in the heat of political combat" that could demoralize U.S. troops.
Kennedy said that the administration's failure to distribute billions of dollars in reconstruction funds and create enough local Iraqi jobs may have been the biggest factors leading to the rise of the insurgency there.
...In defense of Bush's policies, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, appearing Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation" along with Kennedy, said that the United States must stay the course in Iraq and that criticism like that coming from Kennedy will hurt the cause in the Middle East.
Kennedy's Monday speech listed 13 reasons he said Bush's policies have not made the United States safer from terrorism.
He said the war in Iraq created a new breeding ground for terrorists, distracted from efforts to eliminate al-Qaida, alienated America's allies and allowed North Korea and Iran to pursue nuclear weapons.
Glad to see even Bush's underlings are toeing the same "bad words hurt our troops" line. I'm amazed that all this talk hasn't swayed more voters(visibly anyway) as it only proves how pig-headed and ignorant this administration is, as if it wasn't already quite evident.
The U.S. light crude November contract rose 36 cents a barrel in after-hours electronic trading to reach $50, its loftiest level in the 21 years of trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange, before pulling back to $49.80. The contract had settled for the session at $49.64, its highest-ever settlement, up 76 cents from Friday's close.
London Brent, the benchmark for European crude imports, settled 60 cents higher at $45.13, after hitting a new record of $46.28 a barrel.Investment bank Morgan Stanley said it now believes surging crude oil prices could reach as high as $61 a barrel.
"We now think that (U.S.) crude oil could reach $61 before a meaningful sell-off occurs," investment bank Morgan Stanley said in a report to its private clients. "Long-term price patterns point to even higher prices," the report added.
Growing concerns over militancy in Nigeria, OPEC's fifth-largest producer, are compounding worries about supply security in Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
Excellent news, if you ask me, if only because it will make it harder for Bush to tout a "strong economy" on thursday.
Totally unrelated, I like Ted Kennedy. I think he's a good guy who fights for the little people. He may be a bit strange, perhaps he's not the guy you want in your corner, since people seem to be scared by him at times, but I'm certainly with him on his most recent comments:
...Kennedy said that by shifting attention from Osama bin Laden to Iraq, President George W. Bush had increased the danger of a "nuclear 9/11."
He said it was a good thing Bush was not in charge during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, a nuclear confrontation with Russia when Kennedy's brother was president.
"The war in Iraq has made the mushroom cloud more likely, not less likely," Kennedy said. Using imagery from the Vietnam War, he said U.S. soldiers are bogged down in a quagmire with no end in sight.
Republican Sen. John Cornyn said Monday it was wrong to suggest that the war in Iraq was a distraction. He also said lawmakers should be careful about making statements "in the heat of political combat" that could demoralize U.S. troops.
Kennedy said that the administration's failure to distribute billions of dollars in reconstruction funds and create enough local Iraqi jobs may have been the biggest factors leading to the rise of the insurgency there.
...In defense of Bush's policies, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, appearing Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation" along with Kennedy, said that the United States must stay the course in Iraq and that criticism like that coming from Kennedy will hurt the cause in the Middle East.
Kennedy's Monday speech listed 13 reasons he said Bush's policies have not made the United States safer from terrorism.
He said the war in Iraq created a new breeding ground for terrorists, distracted from efforts to eliminate al-Qaida, alienated America's allies and allowed North Korea and Iran to pursue nuclear weapons.
Glad to see even Bush's underlings are toeing the same "bad words hurt our troops" line. I'm amazed that all this talk hasn't swayed more voters(visibly anyway) as it only proves how pig-headed and ignorant this administration is, as if it wasn't already quite evident.
