Oil Prices Soar Above $67 Per Barrel

[ozymandius]

Oil prices surged above $67 a barrel Wednesday on concerns about a storm that could hit production sites in the Gulf of Mexico and a U.S. government report that showed a decline in the nation's gasoline supply.

Natural gas futures also rallied on the storm fears — even though forecasters anticipate a weak hurricane — as traders recalled the months-long disruption to oil and gas production in the region following last year's Hurricane Ivan.

"The fear of a replication of that is going to keep the market on its toes and we could easily test $70 a barrel," said Marshall Steeves, an analyst at Refco Group Inc. in New York.

Crude oil for October delivery rose $1.69 to $67.40 a barrel in afternoon trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That tops the front-month contract's previous intraday high of $67.10, set Aug. 12.

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note: NYMEX (market that sets oil futures prices) is owned by American oil companies.

[bluestateguy]

1. Threatening the president of Venezuela is not helpful either

Just my guess.

[ozymandius]

2. Odd that the president of another country would show compassion

for the Americans that Bush spits upon and uses as photo props: the poor. How dare he offer to deliver low-priced fuel to the poorest communities! Downright unAmerican! some would say.

[Strelnikov_]

3. Maybe Pat Had Some Futures Calls Coming Due

What's good for business is good for Jesus, after all.

[cliss]

4. True. Can you imagine what would happen if Chavez

actually made good on his threat to cut off the supply of oil to the U.S? Crap. They would have a thermonuclear meltdown in Washington. You can almost FEEL the tension in the White House.

They must be in some kind of meltdown mode, and their little buddy Robberson is the lightning rod for their desperation.

The next few weeks promise to be very exciting.