NYMEX - September Crude Oil Closes At $78.21 - New Record Closing Price - Forbes [View All]

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Just in case anybody was paying attention . . .

NEW YORK - Commodity prices climbed broadly Tuesday as crude oil closed above $78 a barrel for the first time amid expectations for rising demand from U.S. refineries.

The September contract for light, sweet crude oil settled at $78.21, up $1.38 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil's increase helped tug gasoline, gold and copper prices higher. The commodities markets, which often find support in a falling U.S. dollar, shrugged off the currency's slight gains on Tuesday against the euro and other world currencies.

With the government's Energy Information Administration reporting weekly petroleum inventory figures on Wednesday, analysts estimate refinery demand for crude oil grew last week amid an expected ramp-up in the use of production capacity. Analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires forecast a 690,000-barrel pull on U.S. crude oil stockpiles in the week ended July 27.

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"The financial players who consider oil futures an asset class continue to plow money into holding length in crude oil," said Tom Kloza of the Oil Price Information Service. A "long" position is a bet prices will rise. "My own sense is we're nearing the crest of a typical seasonal high tide." Kloza noted that there is a "template" for rising oil prices in the summer, and the market may be show enough momentum to push crude prices to a new all-time high. But once the peak comes, the market could be "one headline away from $50 crude." (Ed. - emphasis added.)

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http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/07/31/ap3973082.html