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BBBBAAAAAHHhhhhh!:nuts:

Oil jumps on tough Iran talk

Secretary of State urges Europe and Russia to put more pressure on key oil supplier Iran to come clean about nuclear ambitions.

December 6 2007: 3:36 PM EST

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Fortune's Geoffrey Colvin and Chevron CEO David O'Reilly discuss the likelihood of a global move towards renewable energy. Play video

NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil futures jumped back above $90 a barrel on Thursday as tough administration talk on Iran, the falling dollar and estimates of stronger Chinese economic growth drew buyers back into the market.
Thursday's gains also came in part on a sense that oil prices have fallen too quickly in recent days. Crude futures opened last week over $99 a barrel, but closed below $88 a barrel Wednesday.
"We probably fell a little too far a little too fast," said James Cordier, president of Liberty Trading Group in Tampa, Fla.
Cordier noted that many investors feel prices are still due for a run at $100 a barrel, and viewed prices in the high $80 range as cheap. "There's some bargain-hunting going on."
Light, sweet crude for January delivery rose $2.74 to settle at $90.23 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Meanwhile, the pressure of higher gasoline prices on consumers eased further as retail gas fell a cent and edged back toward a national average of $3 a gallon. Crude oil futures advanced.
Prices at the pump averaged $3.034 overnight, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Retail gas has been falling for several weeks since peaking at $3.112 as crude oil was approaching $100 a barrel.
Analysts expect gas prices to keep falling as long as oil is also generally in a decline, and they say gas could return to mid-October levels of around $2.76 a gallon.
Crude prices gained ground early Thursday after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Europe and Russia to ratchet up pressure on Iran to halt uranium enrichment and come clean about its nuclear programs.
Rice's talks with European and Russian officials showed the Bush administration remains committed to isolating Iran, despite a new U.S. intelligence estimate that contradicted years of assertions that Iran is secretly pursuing atomic weapons. Energy traders worry that any conflict between the West and Iran will cut into oil supplies from the Middle East.
Saudis may supply more oil on sly [more]
http://money.cnn.com/2007/12/06/markets/oil.ap/index.htm?postversion=2007120615
 
Yeah right!:nuts:

Oil price above $90 on Iran fears

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Fears of supply shortages continue to cast a shadow over oil prices

Oil prices are back above $90, as the US government seeks to sustain pressure on Iran over its nuclear plans.
A barrel of New York light crude was up 5 cents at $90.28, while in London, Brent crude up 15 cents at $90.33.
Prices have also been buoyed by President Bush's announcement of a mortgage-aid plan and oil cartel Opec's decision not to increase output.
Oil prices had fallen back in recent days, following a report that downplayed Iran's nuclear ambitions.
Regional tension
Energy traders fear that a conflict between Iran, and the US and its allies could hurt oil supplies from the Middle East.
A recent US report by the National Intelligence Estimate said Iran had halted its nuclear weapons programme in 2003, contradicting the US administration's previous view.
That sent oil prices lower, easing concerns that one barrel may soon cost $100.
But on Thursday, secretary of state Condoleeza Rice urged Europe and Russia to increase pressure on Iran to stop uranium enrichment, indicating that the latest intelligence report has not changed the administration's stance.
The announcement late on Thursday of an aid plan for many US mortgage holders also supported oil prices. It helped sooth fears that the crisis in the mortgage sector would feed into the wider economy and reduce demand for oil. Cartel decision {more}
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7132225.stm
 
Gas prices pull back:D

Survey shows average of $3 a gallon; San Francisco drivers face the highest prices.

CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) -- The national average price for gasoline went down about 9 cents over the past three weeks, according to a survey released Sunday.
The average price of regular gasoline on Friday was $3 a gallon, mid-grade was $3.12, and premium was $3.24, oil industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said.
The nation's lowest price was in Tulsa, Okla., where a gallon of regular cost $2.74 on average. The highest was in San Francisco at $3.42, according to the Lundberg Survey of 7,000 stations nationwide.
http://money.cnn.com/2007/12/09/news/economy/gas_prices.ap/index.htm?postversion=2007120918
 
Hey Nnutt,
Think we'd learn, huh? Guess not-dated today :( What a mess...
http://voanews.com/english/2007-12-08-voa6.cfm
South Korean officials say the country's worst-ever oil spill began washing onto the southwest coastline Saturday, polluting beaches and threatening valuable fish farms.
The coast guard says more than 100 naval and coast guard vessels and six helicopters have been sent to the site of the accident to help contain the spill.
Heavy winds and high seas hampered cleanup efforts Friday, but officials say the sea is calmer Saturday.
More than 10,000 tons of crude oil gushed into the Yellow Sea Friday after a barge struck a Hong Kong-registered supertanker anchored five kilometers off the coast of the port of Mallipo. Mallipo is located about 90 kilometers southwest of the capital of Seoul.
VR
 
Not good for South Korea.:worried: Oil, it's just so darn messy!:notrust:
WATCH OUT FOR THAT OIL SLICK!!
 
Oil falls below $88

Crude keeps up slide as traders worry slower economic growth will lower demand for oil.


BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- Oil dropped below $88 a barrel in Asian trade Monday, extending a decline that began Friday after a November U.S. jobs report turned out to be less robust than expected.
Crude oil futures have retreated more than 10 percent from their all-time high near $100 in November, in part on the belief that slower growth in the world's largest economy will cut into demand growth for oil. Also, oil and petroleum product supplies are no longer seen as insufficient for the Northern Hemisphere's winter.
The report released Friday showed U.S. employers added 94,000 jobs to their payrolls in November following October's 170,000 gain. The data quashed the hopes of some oil investors that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by a half of a percentage point instead of the more widely expected quarter-point when it meets Tuesday, some analysts said.
The larger interest rate cut would add to the dollar's weakness against other currencies and provide stronger support to oil prices. Oil offers a hedge against a weak dollar and is more attractive to foreign investors when the greenback is falling.
Light, sweet crude for January delivery fell 69 cents to $87.59 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midafternoon in Singapore. The contract fell $1.95 to settle Friday at $88.28 a barrel.
Some analysts think volatility is becoming a central feature of the oil market.
Last week, oil futures ran up $2.74 on Thursday before falling back to end the week. Analysts pegged Thursday's rise to tough talk from the White House on Iran, the U.S. plan to freeze loan rates for homeowners affected by the subprime mortgage crisis, or an Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimate that China's economy is growing faster than initially expected.
Other analysts said it was difficult to find reasons to explain the market's recent pricing swings.
"We're just going to see these big daily swings, and at the end of the day people are just going to be scratching their heads," said Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch and Associates in Galena, Illinois.
In Asia Monday, other Nymex energy futures fell as well. Heating oil shed 1.95 cents to $2.4852 a gallon while gasoline prices dropped 1.1 cents to $2.2580 a gallon. Natural gas futures fell 11.6 cents to $7.039 per 1,000 cubic feet.
January Brent crude fell 55 cents to $88.09 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.
http://money.cnn.com/2007/12/10/markets/oil.ap/index.htm?postversion=2007121006
 
:D

Oil prices give up early gains, close down

Growing belief among investors that crude supplies are adequate offsets upward pressure from anticipated interest rate cut.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil futures fell Monday, reversing course as concerns about falling demand and rising supplies offset earlier anticipation about an interest rate cut.

Many investors who had jumped into oil futures markets as crude prices were rising are now looking for opportunities to sell. Many found such an opportunity earlier Monday morning when oil rose to near $90 a barrel, said James Cordier, president of Liberty Trading Group, in Tampa, Fla.
"Right now, the big question is demand," Cordier said.
Several recent reports have suggested domestic demand for oil and gasoline is falling even as OPEC is boosting production. Total production by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries rose to 31.15 million barrels a day in November, up 40,000 barrels a day from October, according to Platts, the energy research arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.
Analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires predict the government will report on Wednesday that domestic oil inventories rose last week. [more]
http://money.cnn.com/2007/12/10/markets/oil.ap/index.htm?postversion=2007121015
 
Oil backs off highs after Fed rate cut

Gas prices fall below $3 a gallon for first time since Nov. 4, extending downward trend.


NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil futures closed above $90 a barrel Tuesday, but retreated from earlier highs after the Federal Reserve disappointed investors by cutting a key interest rate less than many had hoped.
Gas prices, meanwhile, fell below $3 for the first time since Nov. 4, extending a trend that's expected to last through the heavily traveled Christmas and New Year's holidays.
While traders saw the Fed's decision to cut the federal funds rate by one-quarter of a percentage point to 4.25 percent as a move that will help the U.S. economy - the world's top oil consumer - and bolster demand for crude, many were hoping for a larger half-point cut.
Interest rate cuts tend to weaken the dollar against other currencies. Oil futures offer a hedge against a weak dollar, and oil futures bought and sold in dollars are more attractive to foreign investors when the greenback is falling. Many observers blame oil's rise last month to near $100 on speculators driven to oil futures by the weaker dollar.
Though the Fed rate cut wasn't all some investors had hoped for, it was still bullish for oil prices, said Larry Chorn, chief economist at Platts, the energy research arm of McGraw-Hill.
"The Fed is willing to risk further commodity inflation in order to avoid a recession," Chorn said. "This signal should reassure the energy industry that demand growth will continue on trend."
Bet your bottom dollar [more]
http://money.cnn.com/2007/12/11/markets/oil_prices.ap/index.htm?postversion=2007121115
 
Senate drills Bush official over oil prices

Panel members lambaste Energy Department for adding to nation's oil reserve - contributing to a tight supply - while crude prices spike.

By Steve Hargreaves, CNNMoney.com staff writer
December 11 2007: 5:16 PM EST


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Senators say filling oil reserve with prices so high could be illegal, blast government for ignoring speculators.
Video
More video

Chevron CEO, David O'Reilly sits down with Fortune's Geoffrey Colvin to discuss why oil prices have skyrocketed over the last six months. Play video

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- A Senate panel grilled a key government energy expert Tuesday over why the Bush administration plans to continue adding to the nation's oil reserve as the price of crude spikes near $100 a barrel.
Lawmakers also accused the administration of turning a blind eye to the role that oil speculators are playing in driving up prices.
The Department of Energy is planning to spend nearly $1 billion in 2008 to boost the amount of oil the nation holds in its 750 million barrel Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
One industry analyst, testifying before a Senate panel made up of energy and homeland security and government affairs committee members, said the government may cause a significant increase in the price of crude over the next six months by filling the reserve with the easily refined and most valuable light, sweet crude.
"If I'm right, we could see prices go to $120 a barrel," said Philip Verleger, president of the Aspen, Colo.-based energy consulting firm PK Verleger.
Cheney: No bailouts, no tax hikes...more oil
The lawmakers blasted the Bush administration forundertaking such action in light of the high price and with seemly little analysis on what effect this could have on prices.
They asked Guy Caruso, the head of the Energy Information Agency, the statistical arm of the Department of Energy, if top DOE officials had consulted him on the impact of filling the strategic reserve.
Caruso, who was nominated by President George W. Bush, said he had not been contacted. The EIA was set up by Congress in the 1970s by a law that aims to protect its role as an independent service monitoring the supply and demand for oil.
"The law says filling [the reserve] must not result in excessive costs," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. "It seems evident to me the department is not complying with the law."
Collins was joined by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich.
"It looks to me like the DOE is ignoring the law and the pocket book of Americans - this is a reserve," Levin said.
Carusosaid he did not believe that filling the reserve would have a big impact on prices, as it is only taking about 20,00 barrels a day off world markets, compared to other disruptions in places like Nigeria that have taken up to 500,000 barrels of light, sweet crude off the market without too much of an impact on price.
The senators told Caruso, whose agency does not control the reserve, to look into its potential price impact and to ask DOE why it hadn't contacted his agency.
Caruso was also taken to task for his stance on energy speculators, the effect they are having on prices and the limited information his agency could provide on the subject.
He said that speculative investment - banks, hedge funds and others buying oil - is having just a marginal effect on prices. The main reason prices are so high is tight supply and demand, he said.
Several senators and other witnesses disagreed.
"The commodities futures markets have become an orgy of speculation, a carnival of greed," said Levin. "I see no justification for oil to be at $100 a barrel."
"The current high oil prices are inflated by as much as 100 percent," said Fadel Gheit, a senior energy analyst at Oppenheimer, an investment firm. "The price surge is the result of excessive speculation."
Caruso said EIA has looked into speculation and said it is hard to say exactly how much it is contributing to high prices. He said it was the role of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission to regulate oil trading.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., wasn't satisfied.
"You've got hundreds of people, but you can't even put a few people on this role of looking into speculation," Wyden said.
Wyden suggested that EIA disclose in its weekly inventory survey the size of individual company oil stockpiles,a suggestion thatCaruso said would violate the confidential nature of the survey.
Gheit, the Oppenheimer analyst, said that lowering the amount of oil traders could buy with borrowed money, requiring investors to hold oil contracts for a certain period of time, and limiting the amount of contracts that could be bought under one name could help reduce the effect of speculative money on prices. TSP Guys I think!:mad:
$100 oil and the 'S' word
http://money.cnn.com/2007/12/11/news/economy/oil_speculation/index.htm?postversion=2007121117
 
Oil falls on news of Fed alliance

Investors believe the Federal Reserve's coordinated move with other central banks will spur oil demand, but price falls.

December 13 2007: 7:25 AM EST

VIENA, Austria (AP) -- Oil prices fell Thursday following the Federal Reserve's announcement of a plan to help banks through the credit crisis.

A nearly 5 percent gain Wednesday lifted crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange to its highest close since Nov. 27.
But on Thursday light, sweet crude for January delivery fell 40 cents to $93.99 a barrel by midday in Europe in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The Nymex crude contract had gained $4.37 on Wednesday to settle at $94.39 a barrel.
In London, January Brent crude fell 41 cents to $93.61 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.
Crude supplies fell 700,000 barrels during the week ended Dec. 7, according to a weekly inventory report from the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration. Analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had expected a 100,000 barrel increase.
Fed alliance to fight credit crunch
Also, the Fed said it was working with other central banks to try to counter the credit crisis, alleviating some investors' disappointment in Tuesday's cut in interest rates of just a quarter of a percentage point.
The Fed said its plan in conjunction with central banks in Canada and Europe will create a temporary auction facility to make funds available to banks and set up lines of credit for additional resources. The move is the biggest concerted liquidity injection since the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks and initially boosted investor sentiment that it would spur economic growth and oil demand.
Listing "other bullish factors," Vienna's PVM Oil Associates noted a "25,000-barrel oil spill into the Norwegian sector of the North Sea" from the Statfjord field, with a reported daily output of 100,000 barrels and forecasts that oil could hit $105 a barrel by the end of next year.
A drop in the supplies of distillates, which include heating oil and diesel fuel, also helped to lift prices. The EIA said distillate stocks fell 800,000 barrels while the analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had predicted a gain of 300,000 barrels.
Total oil and product inventories have fallen for several straight weeks, which is normal for this time of year, but remain high by historical standards, according to the EIA. Analysts said this week's report also contained elements that could undercut prices, including a 1.4 million barrel increase in oil supplies at the closely watched Nymex delivery terminal in Cushing, Oklahoma.
But the market appeared to be more focused on the overall crude and heating oil numbers. Some analysts were perplexed by the focus on heating oil, noting that supplies often fall this time of year.
The EIA said gasoline supplies rose last week by 1.6 million barrels. Analysts had, on average, expected a 1.2 million barrel increase.
It also said that refinery activity fell 0.6 of a percentage point last week to 88.8 percent of capacity. Analysts had expected an increase of 0.1 percentage point to 89.5 percent of capacity.
Reports of a fire at a 350,000 barrel-a-day ExxonMobil (Charts, Fortune 500) refinery in Texas helped boost gasoline and heating oil prices Wednesday, analysts said.
Heating oil was up and gasoline prices down from closings in the previous session. Heating oil rose about half a penny to $2.648 a gallon (3.8 liters), while gasoline fell 1.44 cents to $2.3984 a gallon. November natural gas futures rose over 8 cents to $7.4791 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Why the Fed bailout might not work http://money.cnn.com/2007/12/13/markets/oil.ap/index.htm?postversion=2007121307
 
Oil rises on boost to demand forecast

International Energy Agency forecasts demand for oil will grow by an additional 170,000 barrels a day next year.


NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices rose Friday on forecasts that oil demand would grow faster than previously expected in 2008, and as fresh buyers entered the market.
The International Energy Agency raised its forecast for world oil demand growth in 2008 by 170,000 barrels a day to 2.5 percent, compared with 2.3 percent in its previous report. It said overall demand was now expected next year to reach 87.8 million barrels a day, Dow Jones Newswires reported.
The security watchdog for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD, said its upward revision was based on an expected increase in demand for ethane and other petrochemical feedstocks in the Middle East, notably Saudi Arabia.
The forecast assumed continuing robust oil demand growth in non-OECD countries, where subsidies protect people from the impact of high oil prices, and normal winter weather.
On Friday, light, sweet crude for January delivery rose 79 cents to $93.04 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Europe.
The contract fell $2.14 to settle overnight at $92.25 a barrel. It had jumped $4.37, or 4.9 percent, on Wednesday to its highest close since Nov. 27 on unexpected declines in U.S. crude stockpiles.
Prices fell more than $2 a barrel in the previous session, as investors sold futures contracts on expectations of an ongoing price slide.
After a gain of almost 5 percent on Wednesday, two causes of the midweek surge in oil prices evaporated Thursday when the U.S. dollar strengthened and Exxon Mobil (XOM, Fortune 500) said a Texas refinery suffered no production outages from a fire.
In London, January Brent crude added 78 cents to $92.90 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
Some analysts said fresh buying by large funds also was helping push prices higher.
Energy bill: No fast fixes for rising fuel costs [more]
http://money.cnn.com/2007/12/14/markets/oil.ap/index.htm?postversion=2007121407

 
Oil prices fall on inflation worries:o

Government says consumer inflation jumped in November by the largest amount in more than two years, raising oil demand concerns.

December 14 2007: 3:40 PM EST
http://javascript<b></b>:cnnVideo('...7/12/13/fortune.whitford.nrg.crane.fortune');
NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices fell Friday after the government reported that consumer inflation jumped in November by the largest amount in more than two years, raising worries that demand could suffer.
Energy traders are concerned that rising inflation will cut consumers' buying power and reduce demand for gasoline and oil. They also worry that higher inflation means the Federal Reserve will stop cutting interest rates. Many analysts cite the Fed's recent rate-cutting campaign, and its role in depressing the value of the dollar against other currencies, as a major factor behind oil's rise this fall to record levels.
Earlier Friday, prices rose after the International Energy Agency boosted its oil demand forecast for next year. However, many analysts think the IEA, an adviser to mostly Western, industrialized nations, is overlooking signs that demand for crude is weakening.
"Usually the IEA underestimates demand, but now I think they are overestimating demand," said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago.
A separate OPEC report offered a mixed forecast, slightly raising the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' global oil-demand growth expectations for next year while saying the outlook for economic growth is worsening, particularly in the U.S.
Light, sweet crude for January delivery fell 98 cents to settle at $91.27 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Last month's 0.8 percent increase in the Consumer Price Index was led by gasoline prices, which jumped above $3 a gallon as oil was approaching $100 a barrel. Oil prices have risen this fall partly due to speculative buying by investors, who see crude futures as a hedge against a weak dollar. Also, oil futures bought and sold in dollars are more attractive to foreign investors when the dollar is falling. The dollar strengthened on Friday, giving oil investors another reason to sell.
Senate OKs more power for energy regulators
At the pump, meanwhile, gas prices rose slightly overnight, inching up 0.5 cents to a national average of $2.99 a gallon, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Analysts say gas prices are pausing in what has been a steady decline since mid-November due to a rebound earlier this week in gasoline and oil futures prices. However, many analysts expect gas prices to continue falling, in large part because they believe oil prices will continue falling.
Analysts questioned predictions of higher demand growth next year by the IEA and OPEC, given recent signs that demand growth is falling. A recent Energy Department report lowered global oil demand predictions for next year, and recent Energy Information Administration inventory reports have shown demand growth is tepid at best. On Friday, the IEA reduced its demand growth expectations for 2007. Meanwhile, OPEC supplies are growing.
"Oil consultancy firm Oil Movements projected that OPEC oil exports ... will jump 460,000 barrels per day in the four weeks [ending] Dec. 29 ... or 400,000 barrels per day higher than in the same period last year," said Edward Meir, an analyst at MF Global UK Ltd., in a research note.
Other energy futures were mixed Friday. January gasoline futures fell 3.27 cents to settle at $2.3417 a gallon on the Nymex, while January natural gas fell 16.8 cents to settle at $7.025 per 1,000 cubic feet.
January heating oil futures fell 0.68 cent to settle at $2.6079 a gallon.
http://money.cnn.com/2007/12/14/markets/oil.ap/index.htm?postversion=2007121415
 
It's about time!!!

Iraqi oil exceeds pre-war output

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Iraq's oil infrastructure appears to be getting back on track

Iraqi oil production is above the levels seen before the US-led invasion of the country in 2003, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
The IEA said Iraqi crude production is now running at 2.3 million barrels per day, compared with 1.9 million barrels at the start of this year.
It puts the rise down to the improving security situation in Iraq, especially in the north of the country.
But the IEA warned that attacks on Iraqi oil facilities remain a threat.
In southern Iraq, more than 85% of the residents of Basra believe British troops have had a negative effect on the Iraqi province since 2003, according to a BBC poll.
The survey for BBC Newsnight of nearly 1,000 people also suggests that 56% believe their presence has increased the overall level of militia violence.
Sabotage attacks
In its latest monthly Oil Market Report, the IEA puts the Iraqi increase in production down to improved security on the main oil pipeline from Iraq's northern oilfields to the port of Ceyhan in Turkey.
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The [BBC] survey's results suggest that only 2% of Basra residents believe that British troops have had a positive effect on the province since they helped the US overthrow Saddam Hussein in March 2003
end_quote_rb.gif


In recent years this pipeline has been out of action for long periods due to sabotage attacks.
Since the summer there has been a marked downturn in all forms of violence in Iraq.
Analysts point to a number of reasons for this, ranging from the big increase or "surge" in American troop numbers in Baghdad, to Sunni militant groups turning against former al-Qaeda allies.
British forces are due to hand control of security in Basra province to Iraqi forces on Sunday. The security improvements in Iraq are leading to all sorts of dividends in the country, some of which could be enormously lucrative, said BBC correspondent Crispin Thorold in Baghdad. Threat remains [more]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7144774.stm
 
Oil falls, OPEC may boost output

The trade alliance responds to fears of rising demand.
December 17 2007: 11:08 AM EST

NRG Energy CEO David Crane talks to Fortune about the need to tax carbon emissions and the future of nuclear power.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices fell Monday as an OPEC official said the cartel may increase production and a private energy shipment tracker's estimate suggested OPEC supplies are already growing, alleviating concerns about tight supplies.
"I would not exclude the possibility of increasing production if the market wants it," said Chakib Khelil, Algeria's oil minister, who takes over as president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries on Jan. 1.
Khelil, who spoke to reporters at a Mediterranean energy conference in Cyprus, also said current oil supplies are sufficient.
Data released by oil tanker-tracker Petrologistics shows OPEC oil imports have already risen by about 400,000 barrels a day, analysts said.
As the oil supply picture is improving, concerns about demand are rising. Analysts said Friday's government report that consumer inflation jumped in November by the largest amount in more than two years continues to weigh on markets.
"Worries about economic growth have re-emerged," said Addison Armstrong, director of exchange traded markets at TFS Energy Futures LLC in Stamford, Conn.
Light sweet crude for January delivery fell 81 cents to $90.46 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. [more]http://money.cnn.com/2007/12/17/markets/oil.ap/index.htm?postversion=2007121711
 
FUTURES MOVERS
Crude gains on Iraq incursion, French strikes
Volatility likely as contract expiration looms; broad rally in energy

By Polya Lesova, MarketWatch
Last update: 10:07 a.m. EST Dec. 18, 2007

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures rose nearly $2 Tuesday, playing off news that troops crossed over from Turkey into northern Iraq and that strikes have been called at several refineries operated by French oil giant Total.

"Supply and geopolitical concerns have apparently been behind the most recent rally, as French refinery workers go on strike, and Turkish troops cross into northern Iraq," said analysts at Action Economics.
"The January contract expires at the close on Tuesday, and as a result, price volatility is expected," they said.
Crude for January delivery gained $1.77, or 2%, to stand at $92.40 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier it gained $2.25 to an intraday high of $92.88 in electronic trading.
February crude, which will become the front-month contract on Wednesday, also was on the rise, up $1.43 at $92.48 a barrel.
About 300 Turkish troops crossed the border into northern Iraq, the BBC reported on its Web site, citing Iraqi officials.
Abdullah Gul, Turkey's president, said the army was doing "what is necessary," the BBC reported. Turkey has vowed to deal with Kurdish rebels hiding in northern Iraq whom it accuses of attacking Turkish citizens. [more] http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?column=Futures+Movers
 
Oil rises on expected U.S. stockpile decrease:mad:

Investors expect the Department of Energy's inventory report to show a 1.5 million barrel decline in crude supplies.

December 19 2007: 6:41 AM EST

SINGAPORE (AP) -- Oil prices rose Wednesday ahead of the release of U.S. government report on petroleum supplies, which is expected to show crude stockpiles fell for the fifth straight week.
Crude futures were also supported by a small-scale incursion by Turkey into northern Iraq on Tuesday that raised worries that the conflict would cut oil supplies from the region.
Light, sweet crude for February delivery added 41 cents to $90.49 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midafternoon in Singapore.
On Tuesday, the contract fell 97 cents to settle at $90.08 a barrel. January crude fell 14 cents to $90.49 a barrel before expiring.
Turkey sent hundreds of troops across the border into the frigid mountains of northern Iraq, claiming it inflicted heavy losses on Turkish Kurd rebels. However, the incursion did not represent a large-scale push that some feared could destabilize a relatively calm part of Iraq - and which is near the nation's main northern oil fields around Kirkuk.
Oil futures fell Tuesday after Kurdish officials reported the Turkish ground troops had withdrawn, easing some of the fears of a supply disruption in the region. The Turkish military, however, had not confirmed a pullout.
The threat of just such an incursion was one of the factors behind oil's rise to near $100 a barrel in November. Oil futures have retreated from their record on a view that global stockpiles of crude are growing as demand is falling, but concerns about supply disruptions remain high.
$3 gas: America's braking point [more]
http://money.cnn.com/2007/12/19/markets/oil.ap/index.htm?postversion=2007121906
 
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