Tux of Borg Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 http://www.forbes.com/reuters/feeds/reuter...L-UPDATE-5.html Oil rises above $46 ahead of expected OPEC cut * OPEC seen cutting up to 2 million barrels a day * OPEC sees sharp fall in demand for its oil * U.S. Fed seen cutting interest rates to near zero By David Sheppard LONDON, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Oil rose above $46 on Tuesday, bolstered by expectations OPEC will agree on its largest ever supply cut this week to try to halt a fall in prices due to shrinking global demand. Oil ministers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries meet in Algeria on Wednesday, with many members calling for output cuts of up to 2 million barrels per day (bpd). U.S. light crude for January delivery rose $1.60 to $46.11 a barrel at 1453 GMT. London Brent crude was up $1.73 at $46.33. Oil fell to a four-year low of $40.50 on Dec. 5, down more than $100 from its July record above $147 a barrel. "OPEC won't face a bigger decision than this for some time to come," Bank of Ireland analyst Paul Harris said. "If they don't put a floor under prices with a cut of some significance then it could have huge ramifications for the future of the oil market." The producer group expects global demand for its crude oil to fall by an average of 1.4 million bpd next year due to the downturn in the world economy. The drop in demand will be even more dramatic in the first quarter. "In the first quater of 2009, the demand for OPEC crude is expected to see a sharp drop of 2.3 million bpd from the same quarter in the previous year," it said in its latest monthly report on the oil market. OPEC has already agreed to cut output by 2 million barrels a day at two previous meetings. But demand has fallen faster than OPEC has cut and as a result, stocks of oil are building up. OPEC said 45 million barrels of crude oil are currently being stored at sea on oil tankers. Crude oil stocks in top energy consumer the United States are predicted to have risen by 300,000 barrels last week, according to a Reuters' poll ahead of publication on Wednesday of U.S. fuel inventory data. Global financial markets are watching the U.S. Federal Reserve, which is expected to cut interest rates close to zero on Tuesday in a bid to stall the slowdown in the world's largest economy. The announcement is expected around 1915 GMT.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsWatch Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 Speculative pricing. Oil has become like the stock market with boars and bears. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 Doesn't it suck for all the people (mostly back east) that locked into the price of fuel oil (diesel/heating) back in the summer. They were saying on CNN that the average household in CT that locked in will have to shell out 1700 to 2000 bucks more this winter. OUCH! Hey what you can say, they bought the fuel at that price... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VOR Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Oil prices fell back under $44/barrel, thanks to the production cut not being as big as expected and/or the interest rate cut. Yet gas prices in my area rose 5 cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tux of Borg Posted December 17, 2008 Author Share Posted December 17, 2008 Crude Oil Rises as OPEC Prepares to Make Record Production Cut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VOR Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 They must be having trouble funding terrorism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VOR Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 OPEC cuts output by 2.2M barrels, but oil prices tumble Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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